






'v^O^ 



4 O 




"oK 




'^0^ 



4 o 










PRINCE OR CREOLE 



Prince or Creole 

THE MYSTERY OF LOUIS XVII 

By PUBLIUS V. LAWSON. Author of "Bravest of the 
Brave, Capt. Charles de Langlade" and "Family Genealogy" 



ft? 



Geo, Banta Publishing Company 
Menasha, Wisconsin 



:i:\ 



UBRARY of OONGRESS 
Two Copies rtsceiveu 

MAY 13 1905 

Ootiyrtifnt tniry 

CLASS o^ AXc. Nw 

COPY B. 



Entered According to Act oi' Congress 
IN THE Year 1905 

BY 

PUBLIUS V. LAWSON 

In the Office op the Librarian op Congress 

AT Washington 



,41 





TO LILLIAN EDITH LAWSON 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Prince is born 11 

II. Marie Antoinette appears for the last time in Regal 

magnificence 19 

III. The Storming of the Bastille 25 

IV. At midnight a cry was heard: "Save the Queen, they 
come to assassinate her." 29 

V. Wit and wisdom of the bahy Dauphin .... 43 

VI. Midnight flight to Varennes 57 

VII. Massacre at the Tuileries 70 

VIII. The King falls a sacrifice to anarchy 80 

IX. The Little King torn from his mother .... 89 

X. The Little King did not die in the Temple .... 97 

XL Flight of the Little King to America 134 

XII. Eleazer Williams 145 

XIII. The Little King recovers health and mind ... 153 

XIV. Those Long Meadow Days 161 

XV. Scouting between the lines 177 

XVI. The eloquent Missionary to the Oneida .... 180 

XVII. The dream of the Indian Empire in the far West . . 190 

XVIII. Married 209 

XIX. All through the years the ghost of the Lost King hovered 

about him .217 

XX. The Prince de Joinville crosses America to interview 

Eleazer Williams 224 

XXI. "Paint me as I am" . . 247 

XXII. Fortunes of a missionary 262 

XXIII. Family and Descendants 276 

XXIV. Gold, Silver, brass and china 281 

XXV. Library of Eleazer Williams 288 

Appendix 296 

Index 310 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



The Marseillaise Hymn 

Louis XVI, King of France 

Marie Antoinette, Queen of France 

Versailles .... 

The Dauphin .... 

Palace of Tuileries 

The Mob at Varsailles 

The Massacre at The Tuileries 

Marie Antoinette led to Execution 

The Little King in the Temple 

Eleazer Williams, 1806 . 

Eleazer Williams, 1852 

Eleazer Williams, 1852 , 

Eleazer Williams, 1850 

Indian Council at Butte des Morts 

The Oneida of Today 

Mrs. Mary Hobart Williams 

Prince de Joinville .... 

Williams Homestead . , . . 

The Glen near Williams Home . 

Mr. George Williams, the last Bourbon 

Brass Candle and Memoranda Book 

Williams China, Alex J. Reid Collection 

Williams China, Mrs. Dunham Collection 

Williams China, Mrs. Dunham Collection 



Fronti^iece 

. 11 

19 

. 27 



154 
170 
186 
205 
207 
210 
224 
262 
267 
279 
281 



THE STORY OP THE LOST PRINCE. 

THOUGH written in popular style, this book 
is intended as the real verified history and 
complete biography of the Lost Little King, 
uncrowned Louis XVII, of Prance; the thrilling 
story of a real life, that seems almost unreal 
enough for romance. It has been a sad tale of 
two continents for a century. 

A recent visitor to Paris, writes of the great 
interest taken in all that pertains to Marie 
Antoinette; of how her palaces are sought out; 
fancy prices paid for her pictures; and they flock 
to the room she occupied; gaze on the bed she 
slept in and examine all articles once used by her, 
and never seem to tire; and it may be equally 
said of the son she loved so fondly, that the sad 
misfortunes of the little prince forever appeal to 
our sympathy. We hope he was taken alive from 
the Temple. 

It is a half century since Rev. Dr. Hanson's 
carefully written and interesting ''Lost Prince," 
published by Harpers, first collected the evidence 
which tended to prove the identity of Louis XVII 
with Eleazer Williams. Por obvious reasons the 
escape of the little King from the Temple has 
been persistently denied in certain quarters- 
Since his reported death Prance has been ruled 
by Napoleon, the restored Bourbons, Orleans, 
little Napoleon and again a Republic, powerful 
interests which have always been averse to his 
discovery. Since the eloquent Dr. Hanson wrote 
there has been disclosed and brought to light 
many new facts which tend to strengthen the 
view he contended for. 



There are breaks still remaining- in the testi- 
mony, else there would be no mystery. The 
object of this work is to present the whole case 
as it appears to date. 

It is true that some references might have been 
stated more positively, but such as have been 
published heretofore have in a general way been 
stated in substance. All the new facts which 
could be gathered from old people or letters and 
journals have been searched out as well as wide 
correspondence could disclose them. Hundreds 
of published articles and works have been read 
and their substance given here when of sufficient 
importance. The authority for each statement 
we have intended to g^ive in its connection. We 
have sought to impartially state the whole case 
as a lawyer should to the Court, conscious that 
the dignity of the profession is not involved in 
the case; yet always being careful to enquire if it 
was permissible to make the statement. Much 
of the evidence we are aware, would not be ad- 
mitted in American courts, though it would be 
allowed in those of France. Again there are 
sources of historical matter admitted in the 
learning of schools which come to us in shapes, 
no court would allow in testimony, which the 
dignity of time will not permit us to ignore. The 
progress made in restoring the list of Rev. 
Williams' rare library and rich china and brass 
has disclosed a side of his nature little known 
and of more value than an antiquarian pastime. 

If the work discloses nothing more than a great 
American missionary, we shall yet feel it has not 
been in vain. Publius V. Lawson. 

Menasha, Wise, March 24, 1905. 




Louis XVI, King of Franck 

Father of the lost Prince, from a painting in the Louvre. 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 



THE PRINCE IS BORN. 

FOR seven years after her marriag-e, Marie 
Antoinette had no hope of motherhood, but 
on December 19, 1778, during- the American 
Revolution, Madam was born. The etiquette of 
allowing- all persons of every rank, indiscrimi- 
nately to enter the room at the moment of the 
birth of princes, orig-inated in the necessity of the 
public witnessing- leg-itimacy^ and was observed 
so literally, that "torrents of inquisitive persons 
poured into the chamber." The chamber was 
packed with a motley crowd. "Two savayards 
got upon the furniture to see over their heads." 
The noise and the knowledge of the sex of the 
infant, made the Queen faint. The Doctor ex- 
claimed: "Give her air, warm water, she must 
be bled in the foot." The king wrenched open 
the windows. The Princess Lamballe was car- 
ried insensible from the room. The people were 
urged out of the room, some of them dragged out 
by their coat^ collars. The cruel etiquette of pub- 
lic accoucheur was ever after abolished. The 
royal family wished for a prince; but the Queen 
pressed the baby princess to her heart, as she 
said: "Poor little one, you are not what was 
wished for, but none the less dear to me. A son 

11 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

would have been the property of the state, you 
shall be mine." Great rejoicing celebrated the 
birth of the princess, the theatres were free, the 
people sang: 

A Dauphin we asked of our Queen; 
A princess announces him near: 
Since one of the graces is seen, 
Young- cupid will quickly appear. 

The princess was named Marie Therese Char- 
lotte, but known as Madam Royal, to distinguish 
her from the sisters and aunts of the King at Ver- 
sailles. She was afterward in the Temple prison 
with her brother and the King and Queen. Early 
betrothed to the Due de Angouleme, son of Count 
de' Artois, she married him after the Revolution. 
Several weeks after the birth of the princess, the 
cure sent to the Queen her wedding ring, which 
he had received under the seal of confession, with 
an avowal that it was stolen seven years before, 
to be used in sorceries to prevent her having any 
children. The hopes of all classes were crowned 
with universal joy on the birth of the first Dau- 
phin in 1781. This young prince whose robust 
health and precocious intelligence aroused the 
greatest hopes for a future great king, suddenly 
became affected with rickets and died at Meudon 
in the month of June, 1789; but in 1785 the Queen 
had given birth to Louis Charles of France, Duke 
of Normandy, who now at four years of age be- 
came Dauphin and through the terrible years of 

12 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

his childhood was destined to witness the most 
horrible scenes of the French Revolution, him- 
self a victim of its awful punishments, to lose 
both father and mother by the g-uillotine, tore- 
main uncrowned Louis XVII, and his history 
mysteriously obscured to save his life. This is 
the prince who gives title to this book "Prince or 
Creole," by a later obscurity of his life, when 
found on the forest banks of Lake George, then 
a wild uninhabited portion of the United States 
among- the American Indians and claimed by them 
as their child. 

The Duke of Normandy was born March 27, 
1785, in the palace of Versailles. At his birth 
the mad rush of the crowd was not permitted as 
on the birth of Madam. The high officials and 
princes present were recommended as sufficient 
witnesses of legitimacy. The Duchesse dePolig- 
nac was appointed state governess to the "chil- 
dren of France," with the use of splendid apart- 
ments in the palace. The beautiful lady, by her 
modest and gentle manners, had long been a fav- 
orite and confidential friend of the Queen, much 
to the chagrin of others less favored. The Queen 
was pleased to have this opportunity to favor her 
with this position, more especially as it would 
give the Queen the easier access to her children 
at all hours, as she dearly loved them, and wished 
to have them by her as much as possible. This 
period was perhaps the happiest of her life. 

13 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Her children engrossed her thoughts and every 
moment of her time not taken up by necessary 
affairs incident to her high position. She had 
now been in Prance so long she had nearly for- 
gotten her native tongue. One day the Queen re- 
quested a German Baroness to speak Dutch to her. 
After listening to the language, she remarked: 
"I am glad to hear again the old Dutch; it is a fine 
language; but French, when spoken by my child- 
ren seems to me the sweetest language in the 
world!" Her youngest child, little Princess Sophie 
died at the age of eleven months, while at the same 
time the delicate condition of the first Dauphin did 
not improve, causing her great anxiety. The Queen 
took refuge at Little Trianon to indulge her 
grief alone, asking Madam Elizabeth sister of the 
King, whom she loved to come with her. "We 
shall weep together over the death of my poor 
little angel. I need all your heart to comfort 
mine, ' ' was the message she had sent to Elizabeth. 

The birth of the Duke of Normandy, the second 
Dauphin, by securing the succession to the crown, 
would at an earlier time have been hailed with 
great rejoicing, but so many ambitious intrigues 
at court, unable to obtain the favor of the Queen, 
had easily poisoned public opinion against "the 
Austrian" as they ungallantly called the Queen; 
and the happy birth of the second Dauphin, gave 
notice to the Queen of the unfortunate change in 
public opinion, by the silence of . the people. 

14 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

When soon after she went to Paris for her thanks- 
giving- service at the ancient Cathedral, the cold 
reception by the populace caused her the most 
painful surprise. She had wished to take the 
Dauphin with her and his presence might have 
changed her reception; but the wife of one of the 
princes claimed the right of the seat next the 
Queen in the carriage, and would accept no other 
seat. The Dauphin could have no other seat hav- 
ing precedence over the princess. The dispute 
was settled by leaving the Dauphin at home. 
Wherever she went during the day's ceremonies, 
she was received in dead silence. Mortified be- 
yond endurance by this conduct of the people, as 
soon as she reached the Paris palace of the King, 
the Tuileries, she refused to see the courtiers as- 
sembled to greet her. but quickly gaining her 
apartments by a back stair, followed by her good 
companion Madam Elizabeth, she burst into tears, 
repeating: "What have I done to them? What 
have I done?" 

On the walls of the palace of Versailles there 
still hangs a charming painting by Madam Le- 
brun, of the Queen in her apartments, surrounded 
by her three children and the empty cradle of lit- 
tle Sophie covered with a dark veil. She holds 
on her lap the little Due de Normandie, the sec- 
ond Dauphin, then a babe in arms. 

Driven to desperation by the state of the finan- 
ces, Necker the man in charge of ways and means, 

15 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

a vain thoug-h intelligent financier, tried econo- 
my as the great Turgot had done, and like him 
was assailed by all who flourished on abuses. 
Necker resigned. Colonne a bold, ambitious man, 
came into office. Though recommended by her 
Polignace friends, the Queen did not approve of 
Colonne, and had remarked in the hearing of his 
friends: ''That the finances of France passed 
alternately from the hands of an honest man into 
those of a skillful knave. " Colonne had but just 
been sworn into office and for the first time in 
conference with the King, when he remarked: 
*'Sir the comptrollers general have many means 
of paying their debts; I have at this moment two 
hundred and twenty thousand livres to pay on de- 
mand. I thought it right to tell your Majesty, 
and leave everything to your goodness." The 
King astonished at such language, stared a mo- 
ment at his new minister, walked to his desk, 
then turning to Colonne, gave him the means to 
discharge his private debts. Meeting with M. de 
Machault, the new finance minister said to him: 
"If my own affairs had not been in such a bad 
state, I should not have undertaken those of 
France." He dismayed men of foresight and ex- 
perience, but the public was charmed, as were the 
courtiers. He borrowed money to pay all man- 
ner of arrears, paying as high as eleven per cent. 
''A man who w^ants to borrow," he said "must 
appear rich, and to do so must dazzle by his ex- 

16 



P R I N C E OR CREOLE 

penditures. Economy is good for nothing-, it 
warns those who have money not to lend it." 
New public works on a gigantic scale were be- 
gun. Great harbors, fortifications and ships were 
constructed and begun. "Money abounds in the 
Kingdom, " he told the King. ''The people never 
had more work. Lavishness rejoices their eyes. " 
His practice tallied with his theories. The cour- 
tiers had recovered the golden age; it was scarcely 
necessary to solicit the royal favor. "When I 
saw everybody holding out hands, I held my hat, " 
said one prince. But after several years, even 
the audacity of Colonne was at an end. He wrote 
the King, that though there were but two bags of 
twelve hundred livres each in the royal treasury 
when he came in, and he had given the treasury 
a momentary credit, to "the terrible embarrass- 
ment concealed beneath the appearance of the 
happiest tranquility," it must be confessed that 
France is only kept up at this moment by arti- 
fice. If the illusion were destroyed, what would 
become of us with a deficit of a hundred million 
livres a year." He proposed the calling of the 
Assembly of Notables to design some remedy. 
There had been but five such assemblies in the 
history of France, and the last was in 1626, one 
hundred and sixty-one years before. The Nota- 
bles, one hundred and thirty-seven in number, 
were besides seven royal princes, the titled peers, 
high clergy and presidents of parliaments. The 

17 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

state of the finances was laid before them, and 
they were implored to decree an equal distribu- 
tion of taxes by which they themselves should bear 
part of the burden. Violent opposition w^as 
encountered. The correctness of Colonne's state- 
ments were challenged. All were against any 
change in the ancient methods; the nobles and 
clergy because they would not pay taxes and the 
others because they disliked the intimation that 
their popular enthusiasm had involved the crown 
in the immense expenditure of the American war, 
and the war with England. The amount of addi- 
tional taxes required to me^t the annual obliga- 
tions was equal to thirty million dollars, a small 
sum for a great nation to meet. After a stormy 
and useless session of three months, the assem- 
bly dissolved. Not willing to yield a small part 
Of their fortune for the public credit, these nota- 
bles who held two-thirds of the property of 
Prance, blindly persisting in their one sided 
method, brought about conditions within five 
years, which in the great Revolution lost to them 
all their property and most of their lives. The 
"Assembly of Notables had failed like all the at- 
tempts at reform made in succession by Louis 
XVI's advisers." It had revealed to the country 
the bad state of the finances. It had taught the 
people the firm resolve of the privileged classes 
to defeat reforms, which affected their interests; 
and the "salutary habit of thinking about public 
affairs. " It was "an immense stride towards the 
Revolution." 

18 




Marie Antoinette Queen of France 

Mother of the Lost Prince, from a painting in the Louvre. 



II 



MARIE ANTOINETTE APPEARS FOR THE LAST TIME 
IN REGAL MAGNIFICENCE 

FIFTEEN years had rolled by since King 
Louis XV had gone to his dishonored grave; 
and on the mighty current bearing France 
toward reform, dragging her into the Eevolution, 
King Louis XVI, honest and sincere, weak and 
undecided as he was good, "was still blindly 
seeking to clutch the helm which was slipping 
from his feeble hands." The King at this period 
has been pictured as having fine features, though 
impressed with melancholy; his walk was heavy 
and unmajestic, and person and hair much neg- 
lected. His voice was not agreeable, and when 
excited was shrill. He had a taste for study, and 
read much, knew the English language and could 
translate Milton. He was a skillful geographer 
and fond of drawing and coloring maps; per- 
fectly well versed in history. His mechanical 
tastes led him to practice at the forge in making 
locks and tools, and working copper. He made 
an excellent copper globe for the study of the 
earth which is still preserved in the Mazarin 
library, having himself invented and made the 
mechanism with which it was operated. The King 
had been born weak and delicate, but from the 

19 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

age of twenty-four possessed a robust constitu- 
tion. Instances of his strength were often men- 
tioned at court. He inherited it from his mother, 
who was a Saxon princess whose family were 
celebrated for years for robustness. The memory 
of the King for names, items, figures and events 
was remarkable. One day the minister had gone 
over accounts with him, when he pointed to an 
item saying, "this is a double charge, bring me 
last year's accounts, and I will show you." He 
would not permit an injustice. As a man of know- 
ledge, an accountant, and of honesty and kind- 
ness he was superior; but as a man of will 
amid conflicting opinions, he was devoid of will. 
Though he knew which opinion was best he was 
easily influenced. He was a good husband, a 
virtuous man, a tender father and an indulgent 
master. In the times in which he lived it was an 
extreme virtue that he did not drink, gamble or 
consort with women. Austere and rigid respect- 
ing the laws of the church, he fasted throughout 
the whole of Lent; but the wisdom of the age had 
disposed his mind toward toleration. 

At last being greatly interested in having nu- 
merous reforms brought about in the ancient 
customs and laws of the kingdom, and opposed 
in these just measures by the priviledged classes, 
the courts and Parliaments, the King yielded to 
the constant cry for the assembling of the States 
General. The edict was issued August 8, 1788, 

20 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

convoking- the States General on May 1, 1789. 
This was the beginning of the end of the monarchy. 
It was decreed that it should contain at least one 
thousand members, composed one half of the 
tiers etat, third estate, who were of the untitled 
commons or people. The other members were the 
noblesse and clergy. Amid the whirl of passion- 
ate discussion brought out by the coming session, 
Louis XVI, though of even temperament, was 
g-reatly discourag-ed and troubled. While attend- 
ing the funeral of his minister Vergennes, he said 
mournfully, that he wished it had been his fate 
to lie down beside him. Marie Antoinette was 
greatly alarmed at the threatening aspect of af- 
fairs. She was opposed to the calling of the 
States General. She had three children, and 
felt the anxiety of a mother. 

Within a few years a change had come over the 
gay society of Paris. The palaces were crowded 
with politicians of both sexes, discussing new the- 
ories of social and civic reform. There was a 
rage for republican simplicity. The smart set in 
the salon of Madam Polignac was infected, as 
was also the King's brother, the Due de Artois 
and a number of the princes. These new republi- 
cans were offensive to the Queen, and incurred 
her displeasure. 

The descendant of the Orleans branch of the 
Bourbons was the chief mischief maker in these 
turbulent times, as if fate determined to leave 

21 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

nothing- undone to produce disorder, it gave to 
the world a man who, with means and opportun- 
ity, set himself to. destroy the monarchy, and ex- 
alt himself on its ruins. He did destroy the mon- 
archy, the King and his family, but also lost his 
own head in the chaos of the Reign of Terror he 
had brought about. He was Louis Philippe, 
Duke de Orleans, great grandson of the Regent 
Orleans. Though the Duke was guillotined in 
the Revolution, his son the Duke de Chartres, 
who took some part in the Revolution, lived 
through the years of Napoleon, and ultimately 
rose to temporary distinction as Louis Philippe, 
King of the French, and whose son, the Prince de 
Joinville came to America in 1841, to meet Eleazer 
Williams, the lost Prince, as related in this 
narrative. 

By the death of his father, in 1785, the Duke of 
Orleans inherited rich domains and palaces with 
a princely revenue; and this patrimony was so 
enormously increased by his marriage with the 
daughter of the Duke of Penthievre, that his an- 
nual income reached two and a half million dol- 
lars. He was said to be the richest man in France; 
but he was also the most unscrupulous, and a lib- 
ertine, keeping wanton women in his own palace, 
to the scandal of his family. His home was 
the famed Palais Royal, a massive building in the 
heart of Paris, still standing, built by Cardinal 
Richelieu in 1629. Orleans had surrounded the 

22 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

gardens with tenements, still existing-, which he 
let for commercial purposes to increase his income. 
The cafes on the ground floor became the favorite 
rendezvous of democrats and malcontents, from 
which the call ''to arms" was made, that raised 
the mob which stormed the Bastille. Orleans 
aiming" to destroy the royal family, joined the 
popular party, by whom with subsidies of money, 
he expected to accomplish his purpose, to have 
himself crowned King-. Inspired by the desig-n 
for a number of years he had caused to be circu- 
lated fabricated scandals, about the Queen and 
royal family. Plots were designed to undermine 
the government, and a number of riots set in 
motion. He was a member of the States General, 
where he assumed the name of Egalite, which he 
made infamous. The Duke of Orleans, even as 
Duke de Chartress was never a favorite of the 
Queen. He was only tolerated at court, because 
of the lovliness of his wife, and his intimacy with 
Count de Artois. The King often expressed his 
abhorence of the Duke's character. The winter 
before the meeting of the States General, was 
severe. The harvest had been bad; the suffering 
was extreme. Agitators availed themselves of the 
misery to excite popular passion. Charity and 
fear opened both hearts and purses. The gifts of 
Orleans to the Paris poor, looked suspicious. 
The archbishop of Paris distributed all he possess- 
ed, and got in debt one hundred thousand dollars 

23 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

to relieve his flock. The finest houses were 
opened to wretches dying of cold and anyone 
might go in and warm themselves in the great 
halls. 

The States General met on May 5, 1789, in a 
spacious hall prepared for the purpose in Ver- 
sailles. There was a vast concourse of people on 
the occasion. At one end of the hall was a throne 
for the King, with seats for the Queen and 
princes. The clergy had seats on the right; the 
nobles on the left, and the third estate in front. 
The hall was fitted in royal magnificence. The 
Queen on this opening day of the States General 
and the Revolution, appeared for the last time 
in her life, in regal robes and queenly splendor. 
The Duke of Orleans had arranged a low insult 
to the Queen on this May morning. As the royal 
procession moved toward the convention through 
the mass of people, a crowd of low women, whom 
he had engaged at an expense of half a million 
livres, screamed into her face: "Orleans forever! 
Orleans forever. " By the suddeness of the insult 
the Queen nearly fainted, but loud cries of, 
"Long live the King," restored her, and the pro- 
cession moved on. 



24 



III. 

THE STORMING OF THE BASTILLE. 

THE States General which had not met since 
1615, one hundred and seventy-four years 
before, was not a legislative body, but depu- 
ted by their several electors to present to the 
throne, complaints which formed petitions to the 
King, who was the real legislature. They did 
have the authority to sanction methods of taxa- 
tion. In this assembly the King had authorized 
the third estate to be equal to the nobles and 
clergy, and their number was 567; while the num- 
ber o f the nobles and clergy were four less or 
563. By mismanagement before the meeting, it 
had not been ruled by the government, whether 
the three orders should deliberate separately or 
collectively in one body, and no settled policy of 
management had been determined upon. About 
half the third estate were needy provincial attor- 
neys; the remainder were merchants and farmers; 
and there were few men of independent means. 

When the members of the States General vis- 
ited Versailles three days before their session to 
be presented to the King, the nobles and clergy 
were admitted at once, but the third estate were 
left without the gates in a rain storm. They be- 
came angry and at their clamor the gates were 

25 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

opened to them. The laced coats and decorations 
of nobles and superb vestments of the clergy, 
made a strong- contrast to the modest cassocks 
and sombre costumes of the third estate. By an 
oversight of the government in the apportion- 
ment of the building for the meeting, there was 
the throne room of the three orders, a room for 
the noblesse, and one for the clergy, but none for 
the third estate, who remained therefore estab- 
lished in the throne room, which was fitted up 
with seats and boxes for spectators who occu- 
pied them. In possession of the main room the 
third estate was in a strong situation, and master 
of the position in which the other orders must 
come to them. They maintained the delibera- 
tions should be together in one body, and after a 
contest lasting several weeks, the third estate 
declining to proceed until the nobles and clergy 
should sit with them, finally with a confidence 
sustained by the general excitement in their favor 
assumed the power to act as if it embraced all the 
members. When the King had said to them, they 
should disperse, the fiery orator Count Mirabeau 
rose at the entrance of the master of ceremonies 
and thundered : ' 'Go and tell those who sent you, 
that we are here by the will of the people, and 
that we shall not budge save at the point of the 
bayonet." 

The Revolution was begun. The third estate 
were soon joined by the nobles and clergy, elected 

26 



6 hd 

S. > 

X > 

<* o 




PRINCE OR CREOLE 

M. Bailly president, and constituted itself the 
National AssemUy without any authority but its 
own will, and became a legislative body. 

The excitement in Paris was intense. The pub- 
lic press teemed with praise of the third estate, 
and orators harangued crowds of people in the 
streets. The traitor Orleans was busy inciting- 
mobs and insurrection, which being exposed to 
the people, caused them to throw his bust into the 
gutter. Necker, the King's popular, but negli- 
gent minister of finance, riding that way, Stopped 
his carriage and ordered the bust to be taken up 
and cleaned. It was crowned with laurels, and 
with Necker 's own bust, carried to Versailles. 
The King's aunts met the procession on the road 
while they were returning home from the country, 
and ordered the guards to send the men away who 
bore the busts. Necker was hence dismissed, 
which caused mobs to run riot in the streets. By 
the middle of July the French guards and other 
regiments fraternized with the mob. There was 
fighting and bloodshed in the streets, and prisons 
broken open releasing the prisoners. The civil 
magistry of Paris sided with the disorder. In 
this daily riot, the old white flag of the Bourbons 
was displaced by the red, white and blue banner 
of rebellion. The Tricolor became the flag of the 
Revolution. A new militia styled the National 
Guard was organized. Orleans' agents were busy. 
With fifty thousand livres of his money, the mob 

27 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

rushed for the arms stored at the hospital of old 
soldiers, Hotel des Invalids, which was pillaged. 
The old g-overnor had twenty men at work all 
night to remove the locks from the muskets, 
amounting to twenty-eight thousand. But they 
had only unscrewed twenty locks as they sympa- 
thized with the mob. Now twenty-eight thousand 
armed men raised the cry, "To the Bastille." 
This was an ancient fortress four hundred years 
old, on the old wall of Paris. Its massive stone 
walls were ten feet thick. Its eight towers rose 
g^rim and sombre just at the entrance to the city, 
while the cannon on its battlements commanded 
the surrounding streets. It was used infrequently 
now as a prison of the higher orders, and in its 
conduct had not appealed to the ill will of the 
people in any way. It was provisioned with two 
sacks of flour and g arrisoned with 138 men, mostly 
invalids. The mob of one hundred thousand 
stormed the stout stone towers. They cut off the 
water supply. The commander was prevented 
from blowing himself up with the mag^azine. On 
the surrender of the soldiers, the populace 
enraged because some of the mob were killed, tore 
the commander to pieces. The Bastille was 
leveled to the ground. A column of Liberty now 
stands in its stead in the Place de la Bastille. 
The massive iron forged key of the fortress, sent 
to General Washington by Lafayette, still re- 
mains in its glass case on the walls of the old 
hallway at Mount Vernon. 

28 



IV 



AT MIDNIGHT A CRY WAS HEARD: ''SAVE THE 
QUEEN, THEY ARE COME TO ASSASSINATE HER. " 

THE Dauphin died within a month of the 
first assembling of the States General; and 
the disturbed condition of the country; with 
the raising- of the Paris mobs and sack of the 
Bastille; the murder of its Governor, and the 
Mayor of Paris; the threats against some of the 
King's brothers and royal families, overwhelmed 
the Queen with grief. She desired that the King 
should come to some definite understanding with 
the members of the Assembly, as the States Gen- 
eral was now called, and urged the King to 
arrange it. The day after the sack of the Bastille 
the King did attend the Assembly for this purpose. 
He went on foot without pomp or ceremony, sur- 
rounded only by his brothers. He stood before 
the Assembly, uncovered, and assured that body 
that he was firmly determined to support their 
measures, and aid them in every way. As an 
earnest of his intentions, he informed them that 
he had ordered tlie troops to leave Paris and Ver- 
sailles. His speech was hailed with enthusiasm 
and prolonged cries of vive le Roi. On the King's 
return on foot to the palace, the deputies crow- 
ded after him, forming his escort. Great crowds 

29 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

gathered and thronged the court yard of the cas- 
tle. There was an immense concourse of people. 
They demanded to see the King and Queen and the 
children. The Queen took the little Dauphin in 
her arms, and with Madam by her side appeared 
on the balcony, where she was received with loud 
cries from the vast audience filling: every avenue 
of: "vive le Roil vive le Reine!" with here and 
there discordant notes of "vive le nation!" "vive 
d' Orleans!" 

It was thought that the King's appearance in 
Paris would quiet the disturbance, and though 
the Royal family had thought of flight, and even 
had the carriages ordered up for the journey, 
the King thought best to go and visit Paris. 
Throngs of people filled the streets, but did not 
hail their King with joy, until when he appeared 
at the Hotel de Ville and M. Bailly the new 
mayor gave him the tri-colored cockade, the em- 
blem of the Revolution, which he placed in his 
hat before all the people; then a great cry went 
up of '-Long live the King." The Queen on 
hearing that the King was bound to face the Paris 
mob, was frantic with grief. "They never will let 
him return" she exclaimed. All day long she 
waited his return with conflicting emotions. It 
was believed the King would be retained in Paris. 
Late in the evening a messenger came with foam- 
ing horse to announce the King was returning. 
This filled the family with joy. In the palace at 

30 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

last he was pleased that no accident had hap- 
pened; ''Happily no blood has been shed, and I 
swear that never shall a drop of French blood be 
spilled by my order. " 

The troops now deserted Versailles, and with 
them went many of the princes, noblesse and 
members of the Royal family, into exile, the be- 
ginning- of that exodus of the aristocracy of France 
who emigrated over the border in these troubled 
times to the number of many thousands. 

The clemency of the King had little effect on 
the people, as within a week, a story having been 
started that M. Foulon, the minister of finance 
had said, the people if hungry could eat hay, 
was seized by the peasants and dragged to the 
Hotel de Ville. His death cry was heard in the 
Asse-nbly. Some" members and La Fayette in 
vain endeavored to save the minister. After tor- 
menting him to death his body was dragged about 
the streets and to the Palais Royal, while his 
heart was cut out and held aloft by women in the 
midst of a bunch of carnations. 

The Duke d' Orleans had conceived a horrible 
conspiracy to strike terror through the provinces 
and furnish the Assembly a pretext for arming 
the people as a National guard and disband all 
the regular troops, which was accomplished. 
Orleans distributed through his agents six hun- 
dred thousand francs, for the purpose of creating 
on the same day and hour, an insurrection to 

31 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

murder all the nobility and burn their palaces, 
the hideous murder and torch of the incendiary- 
spread over France. 

The Flanders regiment was stationed at Ver- 
sailles, and the officers had an audience with the 
Queen. She was delighted with their loyalty. 
The bodyguard at the palace entertained them at 
a dinner in the theater of Versailles. The Queen 
sent for the Dauphin and told him, ''about having 
seen the brave officers; and how gaily those good 
officers had left the palace, declaring they would 
die, rather than suffer any harm to come to him, 
or his papa or mamma; and that at that very 
moment they were all dining at the theater." 
"Dining in the theater, mamma, "said the Prince, 
*'I never heard of people dining in a theater." 
"No, my dear child, it is not generally allowed; 
but they are doing so because the bodyguard 
choose the finest place to honor their guests, to 
show how much they liked them. ' ' ' 'Oh, mamma," 
exclaimed the Dauphin, "Oh, papa, how I should 
like to see them." "Let us go and satisfy the 
child," said the King. The Queen took the 
Dauphin by the hand and they all went across to 
the theater. As soon as the royal family ap- 
peared they were received with shouts of enthu- 
siasm by the soldiers, intoxicated with joy and 
wine; and as the royal family retired they were 
followed to the doors of the palace. This scene 
was noised about, and the Assembly pretended 

32 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

to be offended. To increase the dislike for the 
Queen and raise a riot, Orleans had one set of 
ag"ents, many of them dressed in the liveries of 
the Queen, purchase all the wheat and send it 
out of the country. Great distress was caused 
by this famine, and to attract sole credit for 
relief, Orleans openly employed thousands to 
distribute his bounty, and to spread reports of 
his g-enerosity. However, the King and all the 
royal family and friends, grieved beyond measure 
by the piteous want, distributed privately im- 
mense sums for the relief of the sufferers. The 
plot was discovered to the people too late to 
allay their animosity against the Queen and her 
august husband. 

The insurrection had begun on the morning of 
the fifth of October, by a young virago beating a 
drum and shouting for bread. An infuriated 
rabble attacked the Hotel de Ville, which was 
with difficulty saved from destruction. The whole 
city was in an uproar. La Fayette at the head 
of the National Guard could not control the mob, 
which shouted, "on to Versailles." Maillard, 
prominent among the insurgents who had at- 
tacked the Bastille, took command of this army 
of viragos. Great alarm bells were ringing. The 
whole throng was made up of the lowest, the 
most degraded women, vagabonds, criminals, 
many drunk, roaring revolutionary songs, with 
cries of vengeance, brandishing old guns, swords 

33 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

and pikes. La Fayette's citizen soldiers frater- 
nized with the rioters; but he supposing his 
presence might prevent violence finally consented 
to g"o with them to Versailles. 

For several days rumors of the intended attack 
had reached the royal family, but no measures 
had been taken for protection. On this day the 
King" had gone to shoot at Meudon. The Queen 
was enjoying the autumn day at Little Trinon, 
the leaves falling around her. Suddenly a page 
came hurrying to her with a letter with informa- 
tion of the doings in the city. Marie Antoinette 
hastened to leave Trinon, not dreaming it was the 
last time she would ever see her loved retreat 
where she had spent the happiest days of her life. 
The King summoned, returned at full gallop. 
His sister, the kind Elizabeth, having seen the 
crowd in the distance from her home had joined 
the family, and urged her brother to now take 
energetic measures. Consternation filled all 
breasts and the carriages were ordered up to 
depart. The Dauphin's carriage was standing 
without as he was to have his usual drive. 
Changing views of the council and delay finally 
rendered it impossible to flee as the carriages 
were stopped and sent back. The women reached 
the palace. The King distributed money to them 
and was so kind, that they went away friendly. 
The rain fell in torrents, and it was hoped it 
would depress the rioters. The night came on, 

34 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

dark and gloomy. Ragg'ed men armed with 
pikes, knocked at the doors in the town demanding- 
food. The assembly chamber was overrun with 
the women and men. There they ate and drank. 
At the palace a letter was received from La 
Fayette announcing his coming-. At ten o'clock 
at night he appeared with a crowd of rioters and 
twenty thousand national guard. He went first 
to the Assembly and assured the deputies that 
order would be maintained, and then repaired to 
the palace. Going up to the King he said: "Sire, 
I bring you my head in the hope of saving your 
Majesty;" declaring that the large force he 
brought with him would preserve order; and that 
he had patrolled the town and all was quiet. He 
was sincere and believed he understood the situ- 
ation. He had been seventeen hours in the sad- 
dle, and deeming all safe, went to his quarters in 
the town to retire; but he was not aware of the 
extent of the plans of the traitors, which was 
amid riot and confusion the next day, for Orleans 
to suddenly appear and be hailed as King. 

After the horrible expressions of the women in 
the mob, leveled at the Queen, the noise and 
excitement, and the reports brought to the royal 
pair, they had cause for the greatest anxiety as 
to the outcome of the insurrection. The Queen 
arranged her papers and gave them into the 
charge of the English secretary of the Princess 
Lamballe, who sewed them on to her skirts. The 

35 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

jewels were secured for removal. All prepara- 
tion was made for departure. The Queen at two 
o'clock in the morning- visited the bed chamber 
of her two children, and then told her attendants 
to retire, and went to bed herself, and slept, tired 
out by the excitement of the day. She had 
agreed, with the governess of her children, on the 
least noise to bring them to her; but later sent 
word it would be best to take them to the King. 
On leaving the Queen's bed chamber, her women 
alarmed at the riotous events of the day and 
vigilant for the safety of their Queen, determined 
to sit up and all remained tog-ether against her 
Majesty's bed room door. "At half past four in 
the morning," said Madam Campan, "they heard 
horrible yells and discharge of firearms; one ran 
in to the Queen to awaken her; my sister flew to 
the place of tumult; she opened the antechamber 
door to the guard room and beheld one of the 
body guards attacked by a mob, his face covered 
with blood. He called to her: 'Save the Queen, 
Madam; they are come to assassinate her." She 
hastily bolted the door, and bolted the door on 
leaving the next room. On reaching the Queen's 
chamber, she cried out to her: 'Get up, Madame; 
don't stop to dress, fly to the King's apartment. ' 
The terrified Queen threw herself out of bed, and 
the two ladies guided her to the Bull's Eye. A 
door which led from the Queen's closet to the 
King's apartment, had never been fastened except 

36 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

on her side; but what a dreadful moment, it had 
been secured on the other side. Repeated-knock- 
ing aroused the King's servant, who opened it, 
and they entered the King's apartment. Very 
soon Madam de Tourzel brought in the Dauphin, 
and the Queen went down into the room of her 
daughter by an interior stairway and brought the 
child to the King." 

The insurgents were astir early in the morning, 
and the horde swept toward the palace. They 
"forced their way into the barracks of the body 
guard, and massacred everybody they found 
there, except a few whom they took to the castle 
gates for punishment," says Madam de Tourzel. 
"The others forced the gates and rushed through 
the courtyard and terrace to gain an entrance to 
the castle. These ruffians, who encountered no 
obstacle, killed two of the body guards who were 
on duty at the apartments of the King's aunts, 
had their heads cut off by a monster in the gang. 
They then went up the grand staircase to the 
apartments of the King and Queen, led by Orleans 
himself." "Many have asserted," says Madam 
Campan, "that they recognized the Duke of Or- 
leans at half past four in the morning, in a great 
coat and slouched hat, at the top of the marble 
stair case, pointing out with his hand the guard 
room, which preceded the Queen's apartments." 
The body guard, though few in number, defended 
the entrance with the greatest bravery. Several 

37 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

were dang-erously wounded, but they had time to 
shout, "save the Queen" as related and delayed 
the assailants; "but hardly had her Majesty left 
the room," says Madam Tourzel, "than these 
wretches forced their way in and furious at not 
finding her there, they stabbed the bed with their 
pikes, so as to leave no room to doubt as to the 
crime they intended to commit." 

All the family gathered in terror into the 
King's apartments, expecting the worse from the 
tumult that raged without. The guard had ar- 
ranged between themselves to defend each room 
in succession, and with the greatest courage they 
awaited death. La Fayette now hurried to the 
scene of carnage and induced the National Guard 
to defend the King and save the Body Guard. 
The King seeing his Guard butchered in the 
Courtyard, went to the window and called on the 
people to save their lives. Then the Body Guard 
threw out their cross belts and cried, "Long live 
the nation." The hearts of the savages were 
touched and they embraced the Guards they were 
about to murder. 

Ihe mob outside called loudly, "The Queen, 
Queen." She appeared before that mass of in- 
surgents, walking out onto the balcony, leading 
her children. The murderous throng were spell- 
bound by the beautiful sight. Then a tiger voice 
cried out: "No children." She then led her chil- 
dren back into the Palace, and expecting to be 

38 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

murdered, she boldly returned. "With her hands 
and eyes raised toward heaven, advanced upon 
the balcony, like a self devoted victim." The 
rabble astonished were soon crying": "Vive la 
Riene." The throng now began to cry, "to Paris. " 
After the uproar had continued for some time the 
King faced the savage horde and told them they 
would go to Paris, which announcement was 
greeted with "Long live the King;" "Long live 
the nation. " As the King reentered the room he 
said: "It is done; this affair will soon be ended." 
"And with it," said the Queen, "the monarchy." 
She burst into a flood of tears and exclaimed: 
"As to myself, I am resigned to my fate. I only 
feel for your humiliated state, and for the safety 
of my children. " 

The King was seated in his carriage at half 
past one. He sat on the back seat with the 
Queen. On the front seat the Dauphin sat on the 
lap of Madam Tourzel, his governess, and Madam 
Royal, his little sister sat beside them. La Pay- 
ette and M. d'Estaing, commandant rode by the 
doors near their majesties. The ladies of the 
household and servants followed in other carria- 
ges., and a hundred deputies in carriages. Brig- 
ands bearing the ghastly heads of the two body 
guards in triumph, formed the advance, who had 
set out two hours earlier, and at Sevre had com- 
pelled a barber to dress the hair on their matted 
brows. The poor fellow killed himself from 

39 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

horror of the sight. The bulk of the Parisian 
army, each soldier having a loaf of bread on his 
bayonet, followed the King. The poissards or 
fish women, went before and around the carriage, 
accompanied by an army of prostitutes, the vile 
refuse of the sex, still drunk with fury and wine; 
several of them rode astride of cannon, boasting 
in obscene songs, the crimes they had committed 
or witnessed. Those near the Royal carriage 
sang insulting ballads in vulgar reference to the 
Queen. Wagons of wheat and flour formed a 
train escorted by soldiers, surrounded by women 
and bullies, some armed with pikes. The women 
stopped the people, and pointing to the King's 
carriage howled in their ears: "Cheer up, we 
shall no longer want bread. We bring the baker, 
the baker's wife, and the little baker boy." 
Around the King's carriage, were some of his 
faithful guards, on foot and horseback, uncovered 
and unarmed, worn out with hunger and fatigue. 
In this tumult, clamour and singing, the motley 
rabble, the outpouring and scum of the Paris and 
Versailles slums stretched over the dozen miles 
of that beautiful way from the palace to the City. 
King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette looked 
back that bright autumn day over the most splen- 
did Palace in the world, and beautiful gardens of 
Versailles for the last time. They never saw 
that home again where she came as a bride, a 
Queen and mother. The Duke of Orleans was on 

40 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 



the Passy road and his children, with his mis- 
tress, the notorious Madam Genlis, on the balcony 
of a house along the way, which he had hired for 
them to witness the tragedy. 

The usual journey of two hours was prolonged 
to six, and when they reached Paris, they were 
urged against their wishes and fatigue, to alight 
at the Hotel de Ville. Here the jam of people 
obliged them to quit the carriage, with great 
difficulty, make their way through the crowd to 
reach the City Hall. The little Dauphin, worn 
out, was fast asleep in the arms of his governess. 
The King spoke to the people and said: "I always 
come with pleasure and confidence among the 
inhabitants of my good city of Paris. " 

At last this day of horror ended by the Royal 
party entering the Tuileries, tired, worn out and 
miserable. Nothing was ready for them, as this 
ancient castle had been occupied only by courtiers 
for many years. The Dauphin passed the night 
without a guard of any kind, in a room open on 
all sides, and with doors that could scarcely be 
closed. His governess pushed the furniture 
against them and spent the night seated by his 
side. 

In the morning the populace swarmed over the 
gardens, making a great noise out of curiosity to 
see the Royal family as the palace had not been 
occupied by their monarch since the days of 
Louis XIV. The youthful Dauphin hearing the 

41 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

tumult without ran to his mother. ' *0h ! mamma, ' ' 
he cried, "Is today still yesterday?" He looked 
at his new home, so different from the brilliant 
home where he had always lived and said: 
"Everything- is very ugly here." The Queen 
wrote her brother Joseph II, Emperor of Austria: 
"You have heard of our misfortune. I still live, 
owing to Providence, and one of my guards, who 
was hacked to pieces in trying to save me." To 
Princess de Lamballe she wrote: "I still seem to 
hear the howling roar of the crowd, and the cries 
of my guard. These horrible scenes will occur 
again; but death has been too near for me to 
fear. I thought I should be torn to pieces." 
And Edmund Burke wrote from England: "It is 
now sixteen years since I saw the Queen of 
France, then the Dauphiness at Versailles; and 
surely never lighted on this orb, which she hardly 
seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw 
her just above the horizon, decorating and cheer- 
ing the celebrated sphere in which she had just 
begun lo move, glittering like the morning star, 
full of life and splendor and joy^ — little did I 
dream such disasters would have fallen upon her 
in a nation of gallant men. I thought ten thou- 
sand swords must have leaped from their scab- 
bards to avenge even a look, that threatened 
her with insult. 



42 



3 H 
^ X 

I 

w > 




V 



WIT AND WISDOM OF THE BABY DAUPHIN 

THE Palais des, Tuileries deserves a passing 
notice for its tragic history. It was the 
royal palace within the heart of Paris ; burned 
by the communists in 1871, and has been mostly 
removed, and the ground added to the extensive 
gardens of the same name. The wings and pavil- 
ions still remain as part of the Louvre art gal- 
lery. It was begun in 1564 by the infamous 
Catharine de Medicis and was cursed by being the 
place of originating the massacre of St. Bar- 
tholomew. The tragedy in the misfortunes of 
France and Marie Antoinette while resident there 
is one of the most horrible incidents of the Revo- 
lution; while in later years it cursed the path of 
Napoleon who as first consul took up his resi- 
dence here, and after the restoration the French 
Kings lived there only to be driven out by the 
mob, ending the Bourbons with the flight of Louis 
Philippe in 1848. Napoleon III fated by resi- 
dence here to command the last imperial army, 
and the history of the Tuileries as a royal resi- 
dence ends with the flight of the beautiful Em- 
press Eugenie, after the battle of Sedan. 

Here in this palace the King and Queen were 
held in polite constraint and obliged to ask the 

43 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

authorities for permission to visit their palace of 
St. Cloud in warm weather. Marie Antoinette 
busied herself watching- the education of her 
children, Madam Royal ten years of age, and the 
Dauphin who was four years of age. The Dau- 
phin was a charming boy, gifted with astonish- 
ing intelligence which developed year by year. 
The Queen dearly loved her children and was 
with them a great portion of the day. The little 
Dauphin was quite a philosopher. One day he 
asked his governess: "If God sends the rain to 
make the corn grow, why does he let it fall on 
the pavement?" One of the King's body guard, 
M. Beaurepaire came to the Tuilerie to pay his 
respects to the Royal family. He was one of 
those who in the midnight attempt to murder the 
Queen at Versailles, had called out, "Save the 
Queen," and was horribly wounded. The Dau- 
phin wished to see him in his rooms. He threw 
himself into the arms of the brave guard exclaim- 
ing : ' 'How grateful I am to you for having saved 
mamma." Then going to his governess the little 
four year old boy said: "Madam, I beg of you to 
give him some dinner; I am coming down soon, 
and shall see him for a longer time. " 

The Queen's walk was confined to the gardens 
of the Tuileries where a path surrounded by trel- 
lis work, had been made as a private walk for the 
Dauphin, who went there with a commandant of 
the National Guard and four soldiers. The little 

44 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Prince asked his governess the reason of this 
change and then remarked: "I see quite well that 
there are wicked people who trouble papa, and I 
regret our good body guard whom I loved much 
better than these guards, for whom I do not care 
in the least. " His tutor was the Abbe Davauz. a 
man of merit, who had the skill to make the study- 
time of his youthful student, one of pleasure, and 
thus he learned very quickly. One day a visitor 
had jokingly said to the Dauphin on being re- 
proved: "I will bet that Madam de Tourzel is 
wrong, and the Dauphin is right." ''Monsieur" 
he replied with a laugh, "you are a flatterer, for 
I got in a rage this morning." 

One day he thought to test the severity of his 
governess, and said to her: ''If you do not do as 
I wish, I shall cry; the people will hear me on the 
terrace; then what will they say?" "That you 
are a naughty boy." "But if my crying makes 
me ill?" "I shall put you to bed." Then the 
Dauphin began to cry, stamp his feet and make a 
great noise. His governess did not say a word, 
but had his bed made ready and ordered some 
broth for his supper. These preparations were 
sufficient to satisfy him, and he became quiet, 
and looking straight at his governess said: "I 
only wanted to see what I could do with you. I 
see now I must obey you. Forgfive me, it shall 
never happen again. " The next day he said to 
the Queen: "Do you know who you have given 

45 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

me as a governess? It is Madam Severe." At 
Versailles, when the Flanders regiment called on 
Madam de Tourzel, the visit was mentioned be- 
fore the Dauphin who had a great desire to see 
them. The Queen told him, "he would not know 
what to say to these gentlemen. ' ' ' 'Do not trouble 
yourself, mamma, I shall not be embarrassed." 
Scarcely had the officers entered the room, than 
the young Prince said to them: **I am delighted 
to see you, gentlemen; but am very sorry that I 
am too small to see all of you." Then seeing a 
very tall officer, he said to him, ''Take me up in 
your arms, sir, so that I can see all these gentle- 
men. " Then he said with charming gaiety; "I am 
very glad, gentlemen, to be in your midst. " The 
officers were charmed to hear a four year old child 
so bright and amiable. Though he learned every- 
thing with the greatest ease, he found it tiresome 
to learn to read. When the Queen told him it 
was disgraceful not to read at four years, he re- 
plied: "Very well mamma, I will learn as a New 
Years gift to you." In November he said to the 
Abbe Davauz: "I must know how much time I 
have between this and New Years day, because I 
have promised mamma to be able to read by then. ' ' 
On hearing he had only a month, he looked at his 
tutor and said: "Please my good Abbe, give me 
two lessons a day, and I will give the best atten- 
tion. " He kept his word and went to the Queen 
with a book in his hand, and throwing his arms 

46 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

around her neck, the dear child said: "Here is 
your New Years gift; I have kept my promise, 
and I know how to read now. " 

Mr. Arthur Young- an English traveler mentions 
in his visit to Paris in these Revolutionary days, 
that when walking in the gardens of the palace, 
the King was attended by six soldiers; the Queen 
was similarly attended; and for the Dauphin there 
was a little garden railed off, in which he amused 
himself. There was a small room built in it, to 
retire into in case of rain. Here he was at work 
with his little hoe and rake. He described him 
as a pretty good natured looking boy, with an 
agreeable countenance. Wherever he goes, all 
hats are taken off to him. In the privacy of her 
palace the Queen occupied herself in the educa- 
tion of her children. A few days after their arri- 
val at the Tuileries, the little Prince went up to 
his father, and looked at him sorrowfully. The 
King asked him what he wanted. The Dauphin 
replied, that he had something very serious to 
say to him. Pressed by the King to explain him- 
self, he requested to know why the people who 
always loved him so much, were all at once angry 
with him. What had he done to irritate them so 
much. His father took him upon his knee and 
spoke to him in a kind manner: "I wished my 
child, to render the people still happier than they 
were. But I wanted money to pay for wars, and 
asked my people for it as all other Kings had 

47 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

done. The Magistrates of the parliament re- 
fused, as only the people had a right to consent 
to raising money. Then I called together the prin- 
cipal inhabitants of the towns, named the States 
General. When assembled they required many 
ancient privileges to be given up. Some of them 
I held to, out of respect for myself, and with 
justice to you, who will come after me. Wicked 
men have occasioned the people to rise and com- 
mit the excesses of the last few days. The peo- 
ple must not be blamed for them." 

The Queen fearful lest the youthful prince might 
say things to compromise them, explained to him 
that he must use great judgment to say proper 
and kind words to all those whom he met. The 
child took great pains to please. When he had 
an opportunity to reply to the mayor or members 
of the commons, he ran and whispered to his 
mother, *'was that right?" 

The Dauphin requested M. Bailly to show him 
the shield of Scipio, which was in the royal 
library. He was asked which he preferred, 
Scipio or Hannibal? He replied, that he pre- 
ferred him who bad defended his own country. 
He gave frequent proof of ready wit. The words 
''dis done" meaning "tell thou then" are pro- 
nounced in French with the sound of Didon (Dido) 
the name of the Queen of Carthage, which he had 
remembered in overhearing the lessons of his 
sister, Madam Royal. The Queen was hearing 

48 



PRINCE ORCREOLE 

the princess repeat her ancient history, and she 
could not for the moment recollect the name of 
the Carthage Queen. The Dauphin quickly said 
to her: "But dis done, the name of the queen to 
mamma; dis done what her name was." 

On July 14, 1790, there was held in Paris a cel- 
ebration of the Federation of France, and by invi- 
tation of the City of Paris, deputations attended 
from all parts of the Kingdom. They were in a 
loyal frame of mind toward the King. On the 
eve of the celebration the King held a review of 
the Federates w^ho marched past the King stand- 
ing at the foot of the grand stair case of the 
Tuileries. The Queen presented her children to 
them and gracefully said a few words, exciting 
the federates to great enthusiasm. The deputa- 
tions remained several days, and many of them 
visited the mansion each day. At three o'clock 
the Dauphin would step onto a little balcony and 
review the people, say a few words to each as he 
passed, and then go back to his play. As he 
amused himself one day pulling leaves from a 
lilac bush on the balcony, a federate requested 
them as keepsakes of something his little hand had 
held. This being seen by others, they soon des- 
poiled the bush, mid shouts of ''Long live the 
King, the Queen, and Mgr. the Dauphin." His 
gaiety, beauty and grace and sprightly engaging 
manner won every heart. Every day at five 
o'clock he went to his little garden. The feder- 

49 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

ates urg-ently requested to enter it. They were 
permitted to do so in limited numbers, and in re- 
lays while his walk lasted. He spoke to them in 
such winning" ways that they left enchanted. 
Each deputation desired the King to visit their 
province. "Come" said those from Dauphine, to 
the young Prince, "come to your province of 
Dauphine; your name gives you possession of us, 
and we shall know well how to defend you against 
your enemies." "Do not forget Monseigneur" 
said the Normans, "that you have born the name 
of our province, and that the Normans have al- 
ways been faithful to their King." 

The Dauphin Dragon regiment in passing 
through Paris, sent word by its Colonel to Madam 
Tourzel, to express their regret to the Prince that 
they could not meet the Dauphin at that time. 
"How nice it is to have a regiment at my age, and 
how I should like to see it," he said. "What 
answer shall I give from you Monseigneur?" 
"That is an awkward question; answer for me 
please." "I shall say that Mgr. the Dauphin, not 
knowing at his age (five years) what to say, will 
reply when he is older." 

"How wicked you are, " said the Prince, "and 
what will my regiment say of me?" He flew into 
a violent rage, stamping his feet and clapping his 
hands; and when he saw that they were only 
laughing at him, he said looking very sober: "I 
will reply myself as you will not help me. Tell 

50 




The Mob Before the Palace of Versailles 

Crying "to Paris" — Marie Antoinette facing the mob with her children, 
Lafayette kisses her hand. 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Colonel Choiseul, that I should like very much to 
see my regiment, and to put myself at its head, 
and that I beg- him to say so for me; and at the 
same time thank him with all my heart for what 
he has said on behalf of himself and the regi- 
ment." The governess kissed him, and he 
thanked her when he saw she approved of his reply. 

A rumor was started in the spring that the 
Dauphin was to be sent away secretly. Under 
this pretext, the mob swarmed the streets and 
sought to enter the castle by force; but the gates 
were closed and defended by the guard. Four 
days after this, a stranger with a small hunting 
knife was found in a room next to that of the 
Dauphin. 

It was on the 4th of August, in 1789, that the 
most extraordinary scene occurred in the assem- 
bly. Moved by the orations of some of the 
nobles, the members of all the orders were affect- 
ed with a delirious impulse to relinquish their 
individual privileges. -All those who by their 
perverse selfishness brought on the revolution, 
now vied with each other in liberality. The 
nobles gave up their ancient rights; the clergy 
gave up tithes or tenths; and the tiers etat 
surrendered the privileges of towns. One night 
had seen the overthrow of abuses a thousand 
years, old. And the next year the assembly abol- 
ished all titles, and the order of nobility, so that 
all must be addressed as "citizen." 

51 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Against the insurrectionary movements and 
mob rule, the higher classes made no head. 
Yielding to panic they fled the country to the 
•number of many thousands, instead of remaining 
to use their influence for peace. The finances con- 
tinued in a deplorable state, and the assembly to 
provide funds took all the church property, val- 
ued at four hundred million dollars, and offered 
it for sale. Loud, but vain was the remonstran- 
ces of the clergy. But stripped of its patrimony, 
the church was doomed to suffer a greater indig- 
nity. The clergy of every degree were by law 
denied the spiritual dependence on the Pope and 
reduced to civil servants of the State. They must 
swear an oath to this by the 4th of January, 1791, 
on pain of dismissal. Very few took the oath. 
It was not popular among the people. The King 
at first refused his sanction to the law, but was 
finally compelled to do so. The excitement be- 
came intense as Holy Week, in 1791, approached, 
as the mob would not permit worship. The King 
would have only a non-juring priest, that is one 
who would not take the oath. Because of this 
the excitement spread to the palace. Crowds 
(surrounded it, and being informed the King would 
spend Holy Week at St. Cloud, where there was a 
non-juring priest, the mob opposed the journey, 
and indulged in most atrocious remarks. The 
National Guard threatened to quit the service of 
the King. The King had arranged to start for 

52 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

the Queen's castle of St. Cloud the Monday before 
Easter. The rabble assembled and indulged in 
sinister remarks about the journey and to oppose 
it. The King and Queen got into their carriage 
with the Dauphin and Madam Royal, and the 
King's sister Elizabeth. The guards revolted, 
and placing themselves before the carriage, de- 
clared they would not permit the King to depart. 
The Mayt^r of Paris and Lafayette both tried to 
persuade the guard their action was wrong. The 
King said to them: "It is astonishing if after 
giving liberty to the nation, I should not myself 
be free." The throng of people in the mob up- 
held the guards who grossly insulted those who 
surrounded the carriage, and compelled them to 
stand aside. They used such violence to M. de 
Duras, that the King ordered two loyal grena- 
diers to extricate him; and the Dauphin who was 
not alarmed until now, began to cry and scream 
at the top of his voice: "Save him, save him." 
Upon being convinced their departure would be 
attended with danger, they returned into the pal- 
ace. The King was obliged to dismiss his non- 
juring priests, except one, to whom he confessed 
and who said mass in secret. The household was 
very gloomy. The poor little Dauphin was as sor- 
rowful as the rest. Alone with the Abbe his tutor 
and Madam his governess, he said with a sigh: 
"How wicked all those people are, to give papa 
so much trouble, when he is so good. I only say 

53 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

so to you, my dear Madam, because I know I 
oug^ht to keep quiet," and putting his little arms 
around her, kissed her tenderly; then throwing- 
himself on a sofa asked for the history of Ber- 
quin. The first anecdote he saw as he opened the 
book, was that of the little prisoner. Running 
to the Abbe with tears in his eyes he exclaimed: 
**Look my dear Abbe, at the book that has 
chanced to fall into my hands to-day." He was 
the most charming- child, lovable to all; and never 
failed to say the kindest and most affectionate 
words to those about him. 

Word was sent to the Queen that one Palloi, 
requested permission to present the Dauphin with 
a set of dominos made of the stone and marble of 
the Bastille. As they dare not refuse, permis- 
sion was g-ranted. The speech of the Dauphin 
was committed to memory to avoid his saying- 
something which might be used against them. 
He said: "I am obliged to you, sir, for your idea 
that a set of dominos might amuse me, and I 
thank you sincerely for those you have given me." 
He was furious at receiving such a present, and 
still more so, when the giver told him they would 
be a reminder of his father in renouncing despot- 
ism. The Dauphin's face was very red. As soon 
as it was over, he requested to be taken indoors, 
and at once sent away the dominos, asking that 
they never be mentioned again. 

The Prince took a lively interest in stirring 

54 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

amusements, and favored playing soldier, by fir- 
ing" off a little cannon in his garden, while with 
sword in band, he gave the command to fire. 
Another amusement which pleased him, was to 
dress in the customs of a French knight of olden 
times, by putting on a miniature armour made for 
him. With a helmet on his head, a cuirass on his 
body, and a lance in his hand, he marched about 
in great glee: This amusement was only allowed 
in his own room, for fear of remark; but after 
begging the Queen to permit him to appear in 
her rooms in this gallant dress, she consented if 
he would name the knight he would represent be- 
fore her. "It will be," he said, "The Chevalier 
Bayard, without fear and without reproach." 

The young Prince was fond of historical anec- 
dotes. "I like Scipio much the best," he said to 
the Abbe Berthelemy of the Academy of Science, 
"he is my hero." "Would you like to see his 
shield?" "I should be delighted." The shield 
was brought to him, and after examining it at- 
tentively and turning it over and over, darted 
away to bring his sword, which he rubbed on the 
shield. "What are you doing, Monsigneur?" 
asked the Abbe. "I am rubbing my sword on the 
shield of a great man. " Having heard the story 
of the regiment of grenadiers at Strosburg, who 
for inspiration to brave deeds, had laid their 
swords on the tomb of Marshall Saxe, the young 
Prince took the first occasion to imitate them. 

55 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Playing- in a game which required everyone to 
tell anecdotes, he astonished his teachers by say- 
ing: "I have a funny one. At the door of the 
Assembly there was a porter who sold the de- 
crees as soon as printed. To shorten his cry he 
called out, "for two sous, for two sous, the Nation- 
al Assembly. " A wag who was passing said to 
him, "My friend, you tell us what they are worth, 
but not what they cost us?" "Now confess," 
said the Prince, "that was funny." He had been 
forbidden to mention the assembly, and Madam 
looking severe, asked who had told him the tale- 
Smiling he replied, "the Abbe, who taught us the 
game, said all were obliged to relate an anecdote, 
but it is not part of the game to tell where it 
came from." 



•^t(* 



56 



VI 



MIDNIGHT FLIGHT TO VARENNES 

THE terror of their position, and the constant 
menace to their lives, by the unguarded ora- 
tory of the Assembly, the inflamatory press, 
the plots to assassinate and designs to poison, 
finally determined the King on flight to Mont- 
medy, on the eastern border, where there were a 
number of loyal regiments and he could feel that 
their lives would be in safer care than surrounded 
by the Parisians. The details of the journey hav- 
ing been completed, at midnight on the 21st of 
June, 1790, the Queen went to the Dauphin and 
woke the young Prince from a sound sleep, ex- 
plaining to him that they were going to a fort- 
ress, where he would command his regiment. At 
this he jumped out of bed saying : ' 'Quick, quick, 
make haste, give me my sword and boots, and 
let us be off." The idea of being like Henry of 
Navarre, who was his model roused him to such 
an extent, that he did not close his eyes during 
the journey. The Dauphin was disguised as a 
little girl. Madam de Tourzel took the Dauphin 
and his sister, Madam Royal, out of the palace 
by the gloom of unused doorways, and got into a 
common carriage which was driven by Count Far- 
sen, in disguise of a coachman. The numerous 

57 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

people in and about the palace and the guards 
made the escape of the Royal family quite diffi- 
cult, and required great strategy. The usual 
crowd of people were upon the dimly lighted 
streets. While waiting for the King to arrive, 
the fiacre was driven along the quays and streets 
returning by Rue Saint Honore to wait in the dark. 
Seeing on the side of the road, M. Lafayette, 
Madam Tourzel hid the Dauphin under her petti- 
coats. He said it was just like a play as they 
were dressed for it. M. Bailly, the mayor, fol- 
lowed at a little distance. Neither suspected the 
occupants of the carriage. They went to visit 
the King, and he not wishing to arouse their sus- 
picion, was delayed by their long stay. In about 
three quarters of an hour. Madam Elizabeth 
reached the carriage. After midnight the King 
came to join the fugitives wearing a wig for dis- 
guise. The King soon became uneasy that the 
Queen did not arrive. There was much risk to 
them, waiting in the street in the heart of Paris. 
The Queen escorted by a guard who did not know 
the streets about the palace, became confused 
and they wandered about for some time in the 
dark and poorly lighted streets, before finding the 
carriage in which the other fugitives waited so 
anxiously. The King was delighted on seeing 
the Queen. As soon as she was in the carriage, 
he took her in his arms, kissed her, and said over 
and over again; ''How glad I am to see you here." 

58 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Farsen now drove at full speed to Bondy, near 
Paris. At the barrier there was a marriage feast 
going on, with plenty of people and lights at the 
gate, but none in the carriage were recognized, 
and they passed without difficulty. The roads 
were bad and in the dark the horses fell twice, 
causing an hour's delay by the breaking of the 
harness. The fugitives ate in the coach and 
caused no delay. The children got out several 
times to walk up hill for fresh air. Near Clinchy 
they met their large lumbering berlin, which had 
been sent on ahead. At Laye, they bid an affec- 
tionate good bye to Farsen, and took post horses. 
All the barriers being passed, the party was in 
high spirits. The King said, "Here I am outside 
Paris where I have experienced so much bitter- 
ness. When I am once seated in the saddle I 
shall be very different. " The farther they went, 
the more hopeful they became. ''When we have 
passed Chalons, we shall have nothing more to 
fear," said the King. "At point de Sommevel 
we shall find the first detachment of troops, and 
we shall be safe." 

They passed Chalons and easy in their minds, 
did not suspect their good fortune was nearly at 
an end. By unfortunate delays the troops intend- 
ed to meet them, had changed their positions, and 
the King was lost. They passed several towns 
in expectation but no troops came. At Sainte 
Menchould, son of the postmaster, a furious 

59 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

patriot happened to be at the door, and led by- 
curiosity to examine the berlin, thought he recog-- 
nized the King- from his face on the paper money. 
He mounted on horseback, followed the King to 
Clermont, and hearing that Varennes was the next 
stopping place, rode on in advance and warned 
the authorities. At Clermont the King's troops 
came up, but refused to march or obey their com- 
mander M. de Damas, who dare not tell them it 
was the King's carriage. On nearing Varennes, 
they saw a man who appeared to be hiding him- 
self. Their anxiety increased; their situation be- 
came frightful. They thought they were be- 
trayed, and pursued their way in distress and 
grief, which was increased on reaching Varennes, 
where knowing no post horses were to be had, 
they had sent on a relay for their use, but none 
appeared. They knocked at a door of the vil- 
lage and asked if anything was known of a relay. 
No information could be had, and they attempted 
to hire the postillions to do a second stage, which 
they refused, saying their horses were too tired. 
They were then to be taken to the last inn to 
start when the horses were rested. The alarm 
taken ahead had roused the town and National 
Guard. A wagon load of furniture was up set 
across the bridge, closing the way. It was half 
past eleven o'clock at night. Souce, the Mayor, 
caused the carriage with the attendants which 
was ahead, to be stopped at his house and its oc- 

60 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

cupants compelled to alig"lit, while their pass- 
ports were examined. Word came to the King- of 
this, but they could not retreat then. A moment 
afterward two men stopped the King's carriage. 
Their passports were asked for, and found to be 
correct, and though they urged they were in a 
hurry, yet excuses were made for delay, to arouse 
the National Guard and citizens. The King re- 
fused for a long time to leave the carriage, but 
finally on promise of bein^ allowed to proceed if 
all was rig-ht, did alight and all entered the 
Mayor's house. The children lay down on a bed 
and were soon fast asleep. The people were 
not quite sure if the stranger was really the 
King; but one Mangin who knew His Majesty 
went into the room to see and recog"nized him, 
rushed out to the town and surrounding- country, 
and within an hour had collected four thousand 
of the National Guard. The King seeing that 
further denial was useless, confessed that he was 
the King; that he left Paris to avoid daily insults; 
that he had no intention of leaving the Kingdom, 
but wished to go to Montmedy to be in better 
position to be of use to his people. Both the 
King and Queen tried to touch their hearts, "but 
theirs were hearts of brass, which fear alone could 
move." The streets were filled with the rabble, 
and every house was lighted. Some officers came 
and offered to cut their way through and save the 
Royal family, but the King- would have no blood- 

61 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

shed. At four o'clock in the morning", there came 
flying- into the excited town, on foaming horses, 
two officers with orders from the assembly to 
protect and return the Royal family. The Queen 
snatched the papers and prevented by the King- 
from tearing them, threw them on the ground. 
The King said as the children needed rest, he 
should remain there sometime. He had some 
hope that his faithful soldiers would come; but 
they came after the departure. 

The King was incessantly urged to depart. His 
horses were put to the berlin. The clamor in- 
creased. In vain the Queen pointed to her sleep- 
ing children and pointed out the need of rest. 
The mob invaded their rooms, loudly demanding 
that they should depart. After waiting at Varen- 
nes eight awful hours, with no news of the troops, 
the King seeing no way of escaping the mob, 
which was increasing, concluded to return. The 
carriage was driven at a high speed to escape the 
arrival of the soldiers and soon distanced the 
howling mob. The troops reached the high 
ground overlooking the town just in time to see 
the unhappy King departing and because of the 
temper of the people, the officer fearing for the 
safety of the King if he attempted to rescue them 
did not follow. The highways were thronged 
with excited people who greeted them with insults 
as they passed. Several who attempted to give 
them words of cheer were murdered. The day 

62 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

was hot, and the King- and Queen exhausted with 
fatigue, not having slept for two nights. At 
Chalons the people were loyal. They slept there, 
in the same house in which the Queen rested, 
when as a young girl she first came into France. 
Here the children brought flowers. Frightful 
mobs followed the carriage at every town. They 
made such a noise all night long- at Dormans 
that it was impossible to sleep. The" little Dau- 
phin thought he was in a forest with wolves, 
and that the Queen was in danger, he awoke 
crying and sobbing. He could only be quieted 
by being taken to her Majesty; when he found 
she was safe he allowed himself to be put to bed 
again. It was very annoying to the King and 
Queen to be compelled to have two of the deputies 
ride in their carriage. The heat was excessive. 
Everybody in the carriage was covered with per- 
spiration and dust. At places the dust raised by 
the people who surrounded the carriage on horse- 
back and on foot was as thick as a fog, and the 
air was cut off, so that the people inside were 
nearly suffocated. On entering Paris they passed 
through dense crowds on their way to the Tuil- 
eries. Their faithful servants were seized and 
sent to prison. On entering the palace one of the 
National Guard took hold of the Dauphin to carry 
him to his room; but as he began to cry he was 
given over to others who look him to the King's 
apartments. 

63 



PRINCEOR CREOLE 

The Assembly took away the executive author- 
ity of the King, and made him, Marie Antoinette, 
the Dauphin and Madame Eoyal, prisoners in 
their castle. All the rooms and even the chimney 
were carefully examined to see if any secret 
means of escape existed. All the doors leading- 
out of the room occupied by the Dauphin were 
doubly locked, and the keys taken away. A 
sentry was placed on each stair case inside the 
castle; sentry at the door of the King- and Queen 
were commanded to keep them always in sight 
and the Queen had no privacy, even when she 
slept. When Madam Campan returned to the 
Queen, she was astonished to observe the effect 
grief had produced upon her hair. "It became 
in one single night, as white as that of a woman 
of seventy. ' ' Marie Antoinette exhibited to her a 
ring mounted, to send to Princess Lamballe, 
containing a lock of her hair, with the inscription, 
"bleached by sorrow." Shortly after receiving 
this ring the Princess Lamballe, returned to the 
palace, the Dauphin said to her, "You will not 
go away again, I hope Princess? Oh, mamma 
has cried so since you left us," of which she 
writes: "I had wept enough before, but this dear 
little angel brought tears into the eyes of us all. " 

By the more thoughtful people, the bringing 
back of the King was deemed a political blunder. 
The leaders of the revolutionary party seized 
upon the occurrence as favorable to promote their 

64 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

scheme of a republic. Mobs were roused to make 
a grand insurrectionary movement beginning by 
a great meeting in the Champ de Mars. The 
attempt was frustrated by Lafayette at the head 
of the National Guard, who by a well directed 
fire, dispersed the concourse of anarchists. If 
the Assembly had at the same time ordered the 
closing of the seditious clubs, the progress of the 
Revolution might have been stayed. 

The King sought to satisfy the people by 
accepting the constitution which changed his 
title to king of the French, authorized him to 
appoint his own guards and retain the right of 
veto. At the ceremony of acceptance, a studied 
and insulting discourtesy by the Assembly so 
deeply affected the King, that on his return to 
the palace he sank into a chair and sobbed aloud, 
saying to Marie Antoinette: "All is lost! Ah 
Madam, and you witnessed such humiliation! You 
have come to France to see." He did not finish 
the sentence, the Queen threw herself on her 
knees before him, clasped him in her arms, 
together they cried over the disgrace to them- 
selves and the misery of France. Over in another 
room the Dauphin having completed his lesson 
said brightly to his teacher: "My good Abbe, I 
am so happy! I have such a kind papa; such a 
kind mamma, and a second papa and mamma in 
you and good Madam Tourzel." 

The Assembly having concluded its labors on 
65 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

the 30th of September, 1791, had decreed the Leg- 
islative Assembly, that none of the old members 
could sit in the new, which met October 1st, 1791. 
The Leg^islative Assembly was therefore com- 
posed of individuals generally inferior in social 
standing. They were poor, noisy, coarse in man- 
ner, presumptuous and ignorant. They were 
incompetent to deal with grave legislation. Their 
measures were characterized by violence, such as 
dooming to death and confiscation of estates of 
absent nobles who did not return by a day set, 
and declared all non-juring, that is non swearing 
clergy guilty of treason. On the 15th of June, 
1792 the King refused his sanction to the decrees, 
ordaining the deportation of non-juring priests, 
and the formation of a camp of twenty thousand 
men under the walls of Paris. Very soon a sin- 
ister appearing throng of twenty thousand men 
marched up to the Commune to announce that on 
the twentieth they would plant the tree of liberty 
at the door of the Assembly and present a peti- 
tion to the King respecting his veto of the decree 
banishing the priests. This dreadful rabble 
issued from the f oubourgs and marched over the 
gardens of the Tuileries. They were covered 
with filthy clothes; were unkempt, and "the steam 
from them infected the air." "Nothing so dis- 
gusting had ever before been seen in Paris." On 
the appointed day this wretched mob in still 
greater numbers, swept over the Palace grounds, 

66 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

armed with pikes, hatchets and other murderous 
implements, decorated with the tri-color, shout- 
ing: *'The nation forever." "Down with the 
veto." The King was without guards. They 
rushed up the grand stairway into the palace, and 
began battering at the doors of the King's apart- 
ment which he ordered to be opened. The nobles 
who surrounded the King, helped him to the re- 
cess of the window and baricaded him with 
benches. Some grenadiers ranged themselves be- 
side the King. "The torrent poured into the 
room furiously." An anarchist was to stab the 
King, but he was kept away. Some said to the 
King: "Sir, fear nothing." "Put your hand 
upon my heart and you will perceive whether I 
am afraid or not." A blow aimed at him was 
warded off, and a sword thrust was parried by 
his defenders. Madam Elizabeth ran to him, and 
the rabble supposing she was the Queen cried: 
"Death to the Austrian." "Ah, let them think I 
am the Queen, that she may have time to escape, " 
she said. A pike was thrust to pierce her, she 
gently pushed it aside with the remark: "Take 
care monsieur; you might hurt some one, and I am 
sure that you would be sorry. ' ' A red cap of lib- 
erty was held up to the King at the end of a pike, 
which he took and laid on his head; and forget- 
ting it, wore it during the three anxious hours 
which the mob held him in this situation. The 
Queen was rushing to the King when the tumult 

67 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

began, but was forced by her women to the Coun- 
cil room, where the great table was plcCced across 
the room and the multitude tramped through. The 
Queen held the Dauphin before her on the table. 
Madam Royal was by her side. A tricolor cock- 
ade had been fixed on the Queen's head and a red 
cap was placed on the Dauphin. The horde 
passed in files before the table, carrying atro- 
cious standards, such as a gibbet, to which was 
dangling a doll, with the words, ''Marie Antoi- 
nette a la Lantern;" and another was a board, to 
which was attached a bullock's heart with the 
words: "Heart of Louis XVI." The loud voice 
of Santerre the tall monarch of the foubourgs 
made his subjects file ofi as fast as possible. The 
riot lasted for three hours, and after they had 
cleared the palace, it was found that every lock 
was broken, the furniture and the building strewn 
with filth. The King and Queen had no hope 
now, but in relief by foreign help and that of the 
army of nobles who had organized on the frontier. 
The King expected to be assassinated, and was 
resigned to his fate. The fear of another sack of 
the Tuileries caused the King and Queen to 
destroy all their letters and documents, except a 
few which they entrusted to faithful servants, 
but which were subsequently mostly destroyed. 
Under the constant terror and nervous strain the 
Queen could no longer sleep. The garden was 
constantly crowded with the rabble. The Queen 

68 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

and her children were unable to go out into the 
open air, and even when the Assembly caused the 
g-ardens to be closed, the people crowded the ter- 
race and ''sent forth dreadful howls, and she was 
twice compelled to return to her apartments." 
The Sunday before the last days of the monarchy, 
while the royal family went through the gallery 
to chapel half the soldiers cried: "Long live the 
King," and the other half, "No, no King, down 
with the veto." The night before the slaughter 
at the palace, the two sentinels at the King's 
door had a bloody fight in the corridor, each 
maintaining opposite views of love and distrust 
of the King. 



4? 



69 



VII 

MASSACRE AT THE TUILERIES 

THE colonists of San Domingo having* pre- 
sented to the Queen a very gracious address 
upon the occasion of the negro insurrection, 
the Dauphin asked Her Majesty to give him the 
speech. "What do you want to do with it?" said 
his mother. "I will place it in my left pocket, 
which is nearest my heart. ' ' The young Prince was 
always charming to the Queen, and never lost an 
opportunity of saying tender and loving things 
to her. From the time of the insulting assault 
on the palace in June, the King and Queen aban- 
doned themselves to their fate; their only fear 
was for their two children. At the public cere- 
mony to celebrate the sack of the Bastille, they 
knew by the lowering looks of the multitude, 
that they were subject to merciless hostility. 
Their danger was increased by the injudicious 
proclamation of the Duke of Brunswick, saying 
that he was advancing from Coblentz at the head 
of a large army of Germans to free the King and 
maintain the law. 

The Duke of Orleans took advantage of all 
these events to inflame and infuriate the mob. 
By his means an army of Marseilles composed of 
about seven hundred hardened ruffians from that 

70 




The Massacre of Tuileries 

Where seven thousand people were murdered and the monarchy fell. 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

seaport town, commenced their march across the 
whole length of Prance, gathering" to their stan- 
dard the lowest elements along the way, until 
when they finally marched unwashed into Paris, 
they were a hobo band of five thousand provincial 
cutthroats added to its depraved populace. The 
frightful excesses constantly committed, were 
frequently condoned and remitted by the Assem- 
bly and extensive massacres celebrated. None 
but the innocent were punished. These awful 
excesses derived added horror from wild tumult- 
uary cries, dances and songs with scenes of blood- 
shed. They sang Caira over unhappy victims 
carried to execution, and danced the Carmagnole 
with a song stimulative of acts of atrocity. The 
most stirring was the warlike song of liberty of 
Captain Rouget de Lisle, caught up by levies of 
revolutionary troops, its stirring refrain swept 
through the rough camp of the refuse of Marseilles 
who gave to the song and tune the name of Mar- 
seillaise. 

The cap of liberty, as it was called, made of 
red woolen goods, formed like a Phrygian bonnet, 
became popular. 

As crimes went unpunished all kinds of excesses 
were committed and neither person nor property 
was safe. In their maniacal fury, the French did 
not stop at mere murder, but cut off the heads of 
victims which they carried about the streets; and 
even sank so low as to eat parts of the flesh. Mr. 

71 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

William Chambers writing of this period says: 
"A people priding themselves on their philosophy, 
their literature, and their refinement, sank in 
social estimation below the Bosjesmen of Southern 
Africa, or the natives of Tierra del Puego. The 
excesses were of course the work of the most 
despicable of the population, but in every instance 
politicians of high standing, men renowned in 
science and art, fomented and extenuated atroci- 
ties. " 

In midsummer the insurrection was ready to 
burst forth. Rumors of their impending fate had 
come to the Queen from time to time. They had 
warning of the uprising. They saw the sun go 
down in red on the evening of August 9th, 1792. 
With dread and anxiety they waited all night 
long. None in the palace retired. Seven hundred 
nobles had gathered, old and young, armed with 
old pistols or swords to make their last futile 
defense of the head of their order. The servants 
snatched the tonges from the hearth. Out on 
the midnight air rang the bells, the tocsin of 
anarchy, as notice to the multitude to slide out of 
their slums into the street. The Queen, Eliza- 
beth and the King trembled at the ominous 
sound. Over in the suburbs the din was begin- 
ning. Soon they were on the march, gathering 
forces from every street. Thousands holding 
aloft pikes, guns and daggers swarmed along the 
morning dew wet streets of Paris. The mayor 

72 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

was powerless. Mandat head of the guard was 
murdered; the mob commanded the town and set 
up its own government. Little preparation was 
made for resistance at the palace. The guard 
were infected and the gunners put out their fuse. 
The King walked out to review the guard. They 
met him with angry looks; but the faithful Swiss 
in their bright red coats, "were drawn up like 
red walls." 

The money and jewels in the palace were 
secreted. All was made ready for the assault. 
A musket shot was heard from the garden. The 
Queen said: "There is the first shot; unfortun- 
ately it will not be the last." They heard of 
Mandat's assassination at the Hotel de Ville for 
ordering the National Guard to protect the city. 
When the King went among the gunners of his 
guard, they thrust their fists in his face, "insult- 
ing him in the most brutal language. ' ' The Queen 
remarked: "All is lost." The Queen and Eliza- 
beth went to the window to watch the sun rise, 
which that day set on the monarchy. The un- 
kempt multitudes from the foubourgs with their 
pikes and cutlasses filled the Carrousel and streets 
about the Tuileries, the din was deafening. The 
black Marseillais were at their head, dragging 
cannon which was pointed at the Tuileries. 

Since the advent in town of the Marseillais the 
audacity of the rebels had surpassed their pre- 
vious insults to the Queen, from underneath the 

73 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

windows of her private apartments and she had 
moved up into the rooms of the Dauphin. The 
little prince after his short walks in the protected 
g-arden, would go to his lessons; in the evening 
he was entertained by a marvelous story teller in 
the person of a retired naval officer. ''This 
amiable child who was not old enough to foresee 
the misfortune which threatened him, was still 
happy." Being warned not to talk of things he 
overheard said to Madam Tourzel: "Confess, 
that I am very discreet, and that I have never 
compromised anybody; I am inquisitive; I like 
to know what is going on; and if I am not trusted, 
do not say anything before me." This discretion 
so rare at his age of seven years, he retained in 
spite of future ill treatment. The Dauphin was 
delighted to have the Queen sleep in his room, 
and ran to her bed as soon as she was awake, put 
his arms around her, and said tender loving 
things to her. Now on this fatal and last night 
in their palace of the Tuileries "the Dauphin's 
calm and peaceful slumbers were in striking con- 
trast with the agitation that reigned in every 
mind." 

As the rebel mob throbbed about the defenseless 
palace, it was seen there was no hope for the 
King but in flight. The attorney general Roe- 
derer hastened to the King. "There is not five 
minutes to lose sir," he said, "there is no safety 
for your majesty but in the National Assembly. 

74 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

The gunners are not willing"; they cannot be re- 
lied upon; they will not fire; the assault will 
begin immediately." As the King was reluctant 
to go he was informed: ''The Foubourgs are 
coming down, sir, the crowd is enormous, and 
they bring cannon." The King arose. "Let us 
go," he said. The ministers and some members 
of the Assembly joined the procession. The 
garden was still free. The Dauphin kicked the 
dried autumn leaves before him. As they ap- 
proached the wooden building adjacent occupied 
by the Assembly the crowd closed about them, 
curious, menacing pressed into the passage. The 
little Dauphin could not go ahead. A sapper of 
the National Guard took the little Prince in his 
arms; he screamed; the Queen cried out with 
affright, but the man pushed an opening through 
the throng, made a path before her through the 
surging crowd of people, entered the Assembly 
leading the Royal family, and placed the child on 
the desk of the Assembly, as the King and Queen 
entered the hall, pursued by the invectives of 
the mob. The King was seated by the side of 
the president. "Gentlemen, " said he, "I have 
come here to prevent a great crime." "Your 
Majesty may count on the firmness of the Nation- 
al Assembly, " replied the President, which con- 
sidering the Assembly had secretly used eight 
hundred thousand dollars to create the insurrec- 
tion, was well said. The King, Queen, Dauphin 

75 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

and Madam Royal, tog-ether with a number of 
faithful followers were given places in the re- 
porters' box back of the president's stand, where 
for fifteen hoars, they were oblig-ed to sit listen- 
ing to the wild harangues. 

In the meantime the excited mob had brought 
up their cannon and fired into the Palace. The 
Swiss guard returned the fire with musketry and 
the mob recoiled. Napoleon Bonaparte, then an 
artillery officer, an eye witness, stood looking 
over the combat wrote: "In ten minutes the 
Marsellais were driven as far as the Rue I'Echele, 
and only came back when the Swiss retreated," 
on the order of the King not to fire. Then was 
begun the massacre. The red coats of the faith- 
ful Swiss guards marked them for an easy prey. 
Through the Palace the mob swarmed murdering 
all who could be reached. "The Palace was 
abandoned like its defenders. The popular anger 
and frenzy destroyed all signs of fallen grandeur; 
all the splendor of monarchy perished with its 
power; it was not pillage, it was devastation. 
The same fury pursued the gentlemen who had 
come to defend the King, as they fled through the 
streets they were everywhere massacred." And 
another writes: "Some of the Swiss tried to 
escape by the gardens behind the palace, but 
pursued, were killed amidst the trees and statues. 
A few servants were saved by leaping from the 
windows, others put to death. The palace was 

76 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

ransacked and plundered; the furniture destroyed 
the most horrible scenes took place, and the pile 
of ancient buildings set on fire. Streams of blood 
flowed everywhere from roof to cellar, and it was 
not possible to set foot on a single spot without 
treading on a dead body. Bands of ferocious 
women killed the wounded Swiss prisoners, tore 
out their entrails, cut up their bodies, which they 
roasted and ate. " Over seven thousand perished 
in the massacre of the Tuileries on the tenth of 
August. 

The sound of the carnage reached the Assembly. 
The King and Queen were the only ones who had 
hearts that felt for men. The Queen seemed for 
the first time to lose courage. She hid her face 
in her hands. Each discharge of cannon made 
them tremble as they thought of those dear to 
them left in the Palace. ' 'The poor little Dauphin 
cried; thought of those whom he loved, and had 
left behind in the castle, threw himself in my 
arms," says Madam Tourzel, ''and kissed me." 
Several deputies noticed this, and the Queen said 
to them: "My son is tenderly attached to the 
daughter of his governess who has remained in 
the Tuileries." Pauline Tourzel was the child 
love of the Dauphin and he was charming on this 
occasion, by the sympathy with which he dis- 
played his satisfaction on learning that his Paul- 
ine was not among the slain. 

Deprived of all servants and of their wardrobe 

77 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

and all their personal effects, the royal family 
were kept for three days in the monks cells of the 
old building, when it was determined to take 
them to the Temple. The Queen shuddered when 
she heard of the Temple, saying: "You will see 
they will put us in the tower and make it a regular 
prison for us. I always had such a horror of that 
tower, that I begged the Count d' Artois to have 
it pulled down." The household was reduced to 
a few servants, and the Dauphin and his sister 
Madam Royal joined in requesting Pauline would 
go with them, throwing their arms around the 
neck of her mother, begging her to give them 
their dear Pauline. Their request was granted. 
Madam Campan found the Queen in the Feuil- 
lans cell, the next morning, "in bed in an 
indescribable state of affliction. We found her 
accompanied only by a bulky woman. Her 
Majesty stretched out her arms to us saying: 
"Come unfortunate women, to one still more 
unhappy. We are ruined; we are arrived at that 
point to which they have been leading us for three 
years; we shall fall in this dreadful Revolution." 
Then the children came in and the Queen said: 
"Poor children, how heart rending it is; instead 
of handing down to them so fine an inheritance, 
to say it ends with us. '* The wife of the English 
ambassador sent her some linen for the Dauphin, 
and the Queen having been robbed by a pick poc- 
ket of her watch and purse while jostled by the 

78 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

crowd at the entrance to the assembly, borrowed 
seventy-five louis of one of her ladies. 

The assembly in the presence of the King- and 
Queen decreed the forfeiture of the crown and the 
authority of the King" was at an end. They 
assig-ned to the royal family a residence in the 
tower of the palace called, "Le Temple" which 
had been used in olden time by the Knights 
Templars, and was the property of Artois. It 
was now the prison and last home of King- Louis 
XVI and Marie Antoinette. 



4? 



79 



VIII 

THE KING FALLS A VICTIM OP ANARCHY. 

AFTER three days spent in the ancient 
monks cells, the King, Queen and children, 
were taken at six in the evening into one of 
the large court carriages, and commenced their 
journey across the city to the gloomy Temple. As 
soon as the carriage started the multitude "made 
the air resound with shouts of "Long live the 
nation," "Long live liberty," adding the filthiest 
and coarsest remarks," which never ceased dur- 
ing the prolonged journey over the boulevards. 
Passing the statue of Louis XIV which had been 
thrown down by the vandals, Manuel said to the 
King: "You see, Sire, how the people treat their 
Kings." "May it please God," replied Louis 
XVI, "that its fury may only be vented on inani- 
mate things." They were glad to arrive at the 
Temple to escape the insults of the mob. It was 
lighted from one end to the other. The hall was 
filled with candles. They were met by a large 
delegation of the Commune, disgustingly attired, 
who kept their hats on and plied the King with 
ridiculous questions. "What is your profession" 
asked the King of one of them. "Cobbler" he 
replied. 

80 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

The poor little Dauphin overcome with sleep 
and fatigue begged to be put to bed, but was 
always told it was not ready. He was laid on a 
couch, where he slept soundly. After a long wait 
a grand supper was served. No one was tempted 
to eat. The Dauphin was so fast asleep when he 
took his soup, that his governess was obliged to 
take him on her knee. An officer came to say his 
room was ready; he took him up in his arms and 
hurried him off with such rapidity that we had 
great difficulty in keeping up with him. "We were 
in mortal dread," says Madam Tourzel, "as we 
saw him go through subways, and this dread was 
increased when we saw him take the young Prince 
to a tower, and place him in the room set apart 
for him. 1 put him to bed and then seated myself 
in a chair, the prey to the saddest reflections. I 
shuddered at the idea of being separated from 
the King and Queen, and I was very glad when I 
saw Her Majesty come into the room. She took 
my hand, saying: "Did I not tell you truly?" and 
then going to the bed side of the dear child, who 
was fast asleep, the tears came to her eyes." 

The Temple prison consisted of one large tower 
of considerable height, with turrets at the angles; 
a smaller tower, was annexed, in which the fam- 
ily was at first located. It had two rooms on each 
floor, with a small passage between the two. In 
the passage went the Princess de Lamballe, and 
the Queen had the room facing that of the Dau- 

81 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

phin. The King was on the floor above and a 
guard had the opposite room. There being no 
place for Princess Elizabeth, she was given a 
''frightfully dirty kitchen which opened into the 
guard room." As for Pauline she was taken in 
charge by Elizabeth, who had a folding bed set 
up next to her own. The noise of the soldiers in 
the adjoining room, put an end to all sleep. The 
Queen's room being the largest, was used by the 
family during the day, but not alone, as a guard 
was kept constantly in the room. Often during 
pleasant days their Majesties took the children 
for a walk in a garden within the walls. 

Madam Campan seeking in vain among the city 
authorities for a permit to live in the Temple and 
serve the Queen, had been told by Petion the 
Mayor: "You may be certain that all those who 
were then with Louis XVI and his family, would 
not stay with them long," and they were all 
removed except the King's valet, Clery, within 
five days. They had suspected something of it in 
the evening, but Madam de Tourzel had retired 
and was asleep, when she was awakened to be 
informed that Princess de Lamballe had been 
arrested. A moment after, an officer came to 
order her and Pauline to dress at once and go out 
into the night with them. Madam carried the 
Dauphin fast asleep in his bed to the Queen, who 
made them a sorrowful parting of touching sym- 
pathy. The three women were incarcerated in 

82 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

the La Force prison, from which Pauline and Mad- 
am escaped, but the g-ood Princess was murdered 
on the 3rd of September, and had her head carried 
past the Temple to the horror of the Royal family. 

There were searching visits to private houses, 
ostensibly to secure all arms for the soldiers said 
to be making- ready to defend France from inva- 
sion, but which was to disarm innocent people, 
fill the prisons with enemies and suspected aris- 
tocrats, who it was resolved by the anarchists to 
massacre en masse, for which purpose the city 
g-overnment hired three hundred assassins, at 
twenty-four francs, about five dollars each. The 
victims driven from their cells, were stabbed, cut 
down and murdered, as they issued into the 
street. To afford amusement to spectators, the 
city arranged seats in the streets for the people, 
and at night lighted the shambles. Two hundred 
clergy perished. To women they were peculiarly 
barbarous. This riot of blood lasted four days 
and eight thousand persons perished. 

The taxes which worried Louis XVI at the 
beginning of the troubles was only thirty-five 
million, whereas now the annual expenditures 
increased to $650,000,000. The French forces or- 
ganized by the genius of Carnot and commanded 
by Dumourier drove all before them in the for- 
eign war. 

The Royal family in confinement in the Temple, 
enjoyed themselves as best they could. They 

83 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

mended and made over clothing, and read from 
books in the prison library. A new wall having" 
been made about the garden, they enjoyed there 
the fresh air and green grass. The King took 
delight in instructing the Dauphin, and the Queen 
washed and dressed him. They had never been 
quite so intimate before as they were now. From 
their lofty tower they could hear the ferocious 
multitude shouting revolutionary songs and men- 
aces. It was only by means of the whispering of 
Clery, the faithful valet, that they learned of 
things outside. He dressed the Queen's hair and 
at such times could give her information without 
being noticed by the guard, who remained in the 
room. After the Queen had dressed the Dauphin, 
he would kneel to say his prayers. While the 
family were in the garden the children played 
ball and games with Clery. The garden con- 
tained a walk shaded by chestnut trees. In the 
evening the little Dauphin took his supper separ- 
ately and was put to bed, the Queen hearing him 
say his prayers, and undressing him herself. She 
mended his clothing in the evening after he had 
retired. 

Until the shock of the dreadful death of the 
Princess de Lamballe, the Queen had preserved 
her usual energy; but after that event lived in a 
state of terror. Daily the crowd assembled under 
the windows of the Temple, demanding with loud 
cries the heads of Louis XVI and Marie Antoi- 

84 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

nette. She could heroically face danger to her- 
self; but the horror of constantly dreading the 
murder of her children and husband before her 
eyes was too much for her; and when on the 29th 
of September, the city officers came to remove 
"Louis Capet" as they named the King-, to the 
large tower, the Queen was in despair, being 
convinced they intended to murder him. She 
passed the night in sobs and tears. In the morn- 
ing refused all food and implored the guard with 
such passionate entreaties for permission to see 
the King at meals, the favor was granted. They 
were all very soon transferred to the larger tower, 
but it broke the Queen's heart to have the 
Dauphin lodged with the King and Clery on the 
second floor, taking him away from his mother at 
night. The rooms were dark and gloomy with 
heavy locks and massive keys, hoodwinked 
windows, iron bars. The little Dauphin was 
much depressed by this. No divine service was 
permitted them, so the King read the prayers 
and gospel. They were deprived of pens, ink, 
paper and pencil. The King was thirty-eight 
years of age; the Queen thirty- seven; Madam 
Elizabeth twenty-eight; Madam Royal thirteen 
and the Dauphin seven years old. The festive 
season Christmas and New Year brought only 
fresh sorrows. 

On the 6th of December, Clery heard that the 
King was to be tried and that during its course 

85 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

he would be separated from the Queen and the 
family. Clery had the painful duty of preparing 
the King- for this new ordeal and gently broke 
the news to him while undressing his master. On 
the 11th, there was a great noise in the streets. The 
drums beat to arms and the troops came into the 
garden of the Temple. After breakfast the King 
went down stairs as usual with his son for his 
lesson; but at eleven o'clock two guards came to 
take the Dauphin away to his mother. At one 
o'clock there came a deputation to take the King 
to th e bar of the National Assembly for trial. When 
the Queen knew that the King had been taken away 
she was alarmed for his safety, and urgently 
plied the guards with questions for some informa- 
tion. When the King returned at six o'clock he 
begged to see his family, but in vain. He was to 
remain alone with Clery after this. The Dauphin 
was with the Queen. ' 'My mother, ' ' says Madam 
Royal, "spent the night with him. As he had no 
bed, she gave him her own, and sat up all night 
so absorbed in grief that my aunt and myself 
would not leave her." In vain did Marie Antoi- 
nette entreat to be permitted to see her husband 
in the morning. She never saw him again in this 
world, except once, when he bid her farewell to 
go to his death. On Christmas the King wrote 
to his wife in a letter which she was not permit- 
ted to see. "I charge my son, in case that he 
should ever have the misfortune of being a King, 

86 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

to remember that he must be entirely devoted to 
the happiness of his fellow citizens; that he must 
forget all rancor or hatred, more especially with 
regard to the misfortunes and sorrows to which I 
am subject." 

The sentence of death was pronounced by a 
majority of seven. The infamous Orleans in- 
curred ignominy and contempt by adjudging his 
kinsman to death, in voting as a member of the 
Assembly for the sentence of "death." It was 
announced to the King on the 20th of January to 
take place the next day. Being permitted to say 
farewell to his family, the Queen holding the 
little Dauphin by the hand came in first, followed 
by Madam Elizabeth and Madam Royal. All had 
learned the awful truth by overhearing the news- 
boys calling their papers on the street. With a 
flood of tears the Queen threw herself into his 
arms. They all wept together. The King ex- 
plained the trial, excusing the wretches who 
wanted to put him to death. '-He then addressed 
religious exhortations to my brother; he espe- 
cially commanded him to forgive those who were 
the cause of his death, and gave him his blessing," 
says Madam Royal. In his last moments he sum- 
moned Clery and gave into his hands a small 
packet for the Queen, containing a seal for the 
Dauphin and his wedding ring. 

The Queen had spent the night before the death 
of the King, lying on her bed, without undressing, 

87 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

incessantly ''sobbing" and shuddering with grief. " 
The morning passed in the horrible expectation 
of the visit of the King to say farewell. At the 
last moment he had not the courag"e and was 
carried away. They never saw him afterwards, 
and learned his fate from the public criers in the 
street. At seven o'clock the Queen had been 
refused permission to go to the King's chamber. 
The Dauphin who was now up and dressed, under- 
stood the terrible situation. He sprang from his 
mother's arms and rushed to the guards, clasping 
their knees and crying: ''Let me go. Messieurs! 
let me go." "Where do you want to go?" "To 
speak to the people, to beg them not to kill 
my papa the King, let me go. " The guard pushed 
the boy aside. He went slowly away, but kept 
on crying, "Oh! papa, papa." The Queen pressed 
him in her arms. 



4? 



88 



IX 

THE LITTLE KING TORN FROM HIS MOTHER. 

THE heir of the title which once filled half the 
world with its scepter, a little helpless child, 
was weeping- bitterly in prison beside his 
widowed mother. She treated her son as King 
of France, with the etiquette which had been 
conceded to the King- father even in prison. In 
many parts of France the Dauphin was hailed as 
Louis XVII. In La Vendee in southwest France, 
the people would not recognize other authority 
than Louis XVII. The Dauphin was acknowl- 
edged to be King- in all the courts of Europe; and 
by the armies fig-hting- against the Republic, as 
France called itself, he was proclaimed by the 
title of Louis XVII. At the same time his uncle, 
the Count de Provence (who afterwards became 
King- Louis XVIII) assumed the title and position 
of Regent of the Kingdom of France, during the 
minority of Louis XVII. All these marks of 
esteem and titular dignity were of no avail to 
mitigate the sufferings of the little boy in prison, 
as the anarchists had usurped the government 
and instituted for the revolution the Reign of 
Terror. The prisoners were under the commune 
of Paris, and by their various mean agents were 
subject to the most cruel privations. 

89 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

The cruel whims of the commune toward the 
Queen and children, did not go to the extent of 
denying- them the permission to wear mourning 
for their beloved dead, and as the garments sent 
to them were badly made, and caused them to 
appear ridiculous, permission was given to a good 
friend to alter them. As she was out of the prison 
at night and could obtain information of friends, 
of whom the Queen wished to know, but could not 
talk to the royal prisoners because of the presence 
of the guards, or the Tyson woman, who though 
doing menial service, was really a spy. The lit- 
tle King made up a play of running from the 
Queen to this lady while she plied her needle and 
back again, always taking a few words of a mes- 
sage. This pretty scene is described by Madam 
Tourzel: "The Dauphin whose age was an excuse 
for any curiosity, took advantage of it to ask me, 
under cover of an apparent game, all the ques- 
tions the royal family wished. He ran by turns 
to me, then to the Queen, the two Princesses and 
even to the municipal guard. Every time he 
came to me he never failed to question me about 
the persons in whom the royal family took an 
interest. He told me to embrace you and Paul- 
ine for him, and forgot none of those he loved. 
He played his part so well, that no one suspected 
he spoke to me." 

The little King was taken sick and they would 
not give him any but the prison mediciue. The 

90 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

physician kindly consulted Brunger the court 
doctor to obtain information about the temper- 
ament of the child, and the littleKing soon re- 
covered. 

The Duke of Orleans came frequently to the 
Temple disguised as a guard with a wooden leg, 
to secretly gloat over the condition of the royal 
family. On one occasion he had bribed the men 
who were to light the fires, to admit him in their 
place to the room of Princess Elizabeth. Find- 
ing her on her knees in prayer for the soul of the 
murdered King her brother, he was so overcome 
with remorse that he hurried out saying: "That 
woman has unmmaned me," by which he was dis- 
covered. The Queen exclaimed when she heard 
of these visits: ''Merciful Heavens! is he not yet 
satisfied? Must he even satiate his barbarous 
brutality with being an eyewitness of the horrid 
state into which he has thrown us?" She gave 
way to a flood of tears as she recalled to mind 
the cruel injustice of this most unworthy relative. 

Some time after this it is certain that he visited 
the Queen and that the just reproach with which 
she scorned him, led to her being removed to the 
common prison, the Conciergerie, and to her trial. 
It also led to Orleans being sent away to Marseil- 
les to prevent his schemes to liberate the [Queen, 
for the sole purpose of having her in his own power. 

Marie Antoinette was broken with sorrow and 
despair when the little King was brutally taken 

91 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

away, and delivered over to the cruel care of the 
''cobbler" Simon. It was at ten o'clock at night, 
the time usually set for the dark deeds of the com- 
mune, July 3, 1793, the six commissioners came 
into the room where the Queen was with the 
youthful King" and read a decree of the conven- 
tion, that the son of Louis Capet should be sepa- 
rated from his mother, and given into the hands 
of a "tutor, " who would be appointed by the com- 
mune. The child was ill and sound asleep. Over 
the posts the Queen had hung a shawl to guard 
his eyes from the light, by which she and Eliza- 
beth were mending their clothes. 1 he noise made 
by the men awakened the little King. As soon 
as he heard this, he threw himself into his moth- 
er's arms and piteously begged, "entreated with 
violent cries not to be separated from her." The 
Queen "was struck to the earth by this cruel 
order; she would not part with her son, and she 
actually defended against the efforts of the offi- 
cers, the bed on which she had placed him, she 
exclaimed, "that they had better kill her, than 
tear her son from her." She resisted the officers 
for an hour, while they heaped threats and insults 
on her. Princess Elizabeth and Madam Royal 
joined their tears, entreaties and prayers to keep 
the little boy with them. The officers threatened 
to kill the poor boy and his sister, if further 
resistance was made to the order, when the Queen's 
maternal "tenderness at length forced her to this 

92 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

sacrifice. " Princess Elizabeth dressed him, then 
the Queen took him in her arms "and delivered 
him to the officers, bathing him with her tears, 
and foreseeing- that she should never see him 
again. The poor little fellow embraced us all 
tenderly, and was carried off in a flood of tears." 
When about to give him up to the men who were 
coarsely expressing their impatience, the broken 
hearted Queen gave him this beautiful message: 
"My child, we are about to part. Bear in mind 
all I have said to you of your duties when I shall 
be no longer near you to repeat it. Never forget 
God, who thus tries you; nor your mother, who 
loves you. Be good, patient, kind and your 
father will look down from heaven and blessyou. " 
Then she kissed him and they parted forever. 

The Princess Royal says that her mother never 
looked up after the loss of her son. It was thus 
that the envoy of Austria saw her sitting on her 
low stool, her face the picture of apathy. A 
treaty had been made with Robespierre the erst 
while dictator of France, to free the Queen; but 
she refused a liberty which did not include her 
children. 

After her son had been delivered up to Simon, 
"then," says the Princess Royal, "my poor 
mother would sit whole hours in silent despair; 
and her only consolation was to go to the leads 
of the tower, because my brother went often on 
the leads of the tower on the other side. The 

93 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

only pleasure my mother enjoyed was seeing him 
through a chink as he passed at a distance. She 
would watch at this chink for hours together, to 
see the child as he passed; it was her only hope, 
her only thought. " 

Princess Elizabeth was informed by friendly 
guards of the ill treatment and degradation of the 
little King, and **which was beyond imagination, " 
says Madam Royal. They were entreated not to 
mention it to the Queen; but she was only too sure 
of his treatment when she caught sight of her 
child through the "chinks" and saw his pale, sor- 
rowful face. The last time that such miserable 
comfort was granted her, was on July 30th, three 
days before she was removed from the Temple. 
She had been keeping her faithful vigil at the 
''chinks," and at last saw him, cowed and terri- 
fied, bereft of his golden curls, wearing a red rev- 
olutionary cap, and singing a song of coarse 
insult against herself. She knew then how the 
child must have suffered before he could have 
been brought to this." 

She was forced to rise at two o'clock on the 
night of August 2nd, to dress in presence of three 
men, and taken to the Conciergerie prison. On 
passing the low doorway of the cell she struck 
her head. Being asked if she was hurt, she re- 
plied: ''Nothing can hurt me now." She was 
placed in a low, damp cell, where the mould cov- 
ered her shoes, deprived of all comforts and even 

94 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

privacy, for two male guards remained in the cell 
night and day. After a miserable existence in 
this gloomy prison, and an insulting trial, the 
brave, beautiful, broken Marie Antoinette, was 
taken in a two wheeled criminal cart along streets 
lined with heartless men and women to the place 
where was set up that sharp blade of the guillo- 
tine. A Queen to the last moment, she apolo- 
gized to the executioner Sanson, for stepping on 
his foot. The knife fell; her head was held aloft 
for exhibition to the populace. This was October 
16th, and on November 6th, Orleans who had 
been incarcerated in the same cell, was tried, con- 
demned and executed, meeting his fate with stoi- 
cal fortitude, ''leaving none in France to mourn 
his loss." The horrible history of the Revolu- 
tion has been mentioned only so far as required 
to understand the story of the Prince. Passion, 
outrage and murder had long since possessed the 
government. They now abolished the calender; 
they abolished the sabbath day; they destroyed 
with ghoulish ferocity the tombs of the King's at 
St. Denis; and abjured Christianity; desecrated 
the churches; and declared marriage a civil con- 
tract. Its ridiculous and horrible proceedings 
came to end within two years when Napoleon shot 
it to pieces, and scattered the mob. "The num- 
ber of persons destroyed during the Revolution' ' 
says Mr. Williams Chambers, "has been reckoned 
to be 1,027,106. The world has nothing to equal 

95 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

this in atrocity; nor is there any such instance of 
a worthless faction terrifying- the community into 
submission. The fact is not less curious, that 
during the worst period of the Keign of Terror, 
all the theaters and other places of amusement 
in Paris were open and well attended. And a 
peculiar characteristic, the conclusion of the 
Reig-n of Terror was signalized by a ball, called 
*'Le bal des Victims;" only those ladies being 
admitted who had lost relatives by the guillo- 
tine and their hair was tied up as if ready for 
execution." 



4? 



96 



X 

THE LITTLE KING DID NOT DIE IN THE TEMPLE. 

1. The Baby King in the Temple. 2. Went Living Out From 
THE Temple. 3. The Dumb Boy. 4. The Chatterbox. 5. The 
Solemn Farce. 6. Far too Tall tor the Little King. 7. Cof- 
fin Marked "L— XII" Exhumed and the Bones Found to be 
Adult. 8. History Confirms the Escape. 9. The Unclaimed 
Heart. 

I. THE BABY KING IN THE TEMPLE. 

ON that unhappy night when the King and 
family were taken to the illuminated 
Temple, the entrance hall was jailed with 
vulgar members of the infamous commune. They 
were mostly there to see the misery of the King. 
They boldly "asked him a thousand questions," 
says Duchess de Tourzel, "and one of them seated 
on a sofa, said the most extraordinary things to 
him about the happiness of equality. -'What is your 
profession?' said the King to him. 'Cobbler,' he 
replied." This was Simon the cobbler, who be- 
came the jailor or tutor of the baby King on that 
sorrowful night of the third of July, when the 
child was torn from his bereaved mother's arms 
by the heartless commissaries. 

Simon would threaten him with the guillotine, 
which so filled him with terror that he fainted. 
He forced him to drink raw spirits which stupefied 
him. As soon as Simon had the Prince in his 
power, he stripped him of the suit of mourning, 

97 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

given him for his father, and dressed him in a red 
cap, coarse jacket called carmagnole, or sans 
culotte uniform; taught him revolutionary songs 
and blasphemous oaths which he obliged him to 
repeat at the windows, so as to be heard by the 
guards. He would rouse the Prince at night from 
sleep with loud cries of Capet! Simon was fre- 
quently intoxicated, when his ill usage of the 
child was still more horrible; and if not protected 
by the wife of Simon, the Prince would have been 
killed through the crazy violence of the brute. 
The grateful Prince showed her every attention, 
as she boasts he would run to clean and black 
her shoes, and bring the foot warmer to her bed- 
side before she arose in the morning. Think of 
such service for the wench Simon, "fat, short, 
brown and ugly. " 

Simon was fifty- seven years of age, short, 
robust, square, with repulsive deformed features, 
coarse black hair, thick eye-brows. A loud 
anarchist in his section, no wonder he had politi- 
cal influence, and was spewed into the Council of 
the City. Such as he sat the saddle in those 
days. None live in France or elsewhere to ap- 
plaud the ''tutor" of the little King. 

Once he plied him with wine, took him into the 
presence of the saintly Elizabeth and Madam 
Royal, to sing the Carmagnole, then compelled 
him to relate the trial of the Queen, and when 
the poor child began to sober, and attempted to 



-v"V^ -"^Irf'- 



-^"-z^i — n 




The Little King in the Temple 

Under the Infamous Simon The Shoe Cobbler. (From Guizot's History. 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

kiss his sister's hand, the wretch snatched him 
away. 

"The Royal Child," says Guizot, History of 
France, ''had been at first thrown into infamous 
hands. It was to a shoemaker, known by Marat, 
his neighbor and passionate admirer, that the son 
of Louis XVI, but lately the 'child of France,' 
had been delivered. Coldly cruel, bent upon de- 
stroying" in the child that superiority of race and 
education, which irritated the jealous passions of 
his soul, Simon at first loaded him with bad treat- 
ment; one day, however, he became uneasy and 
went to the Committee of Public Safety. 

"The young- wolf has learned to be insolent; I 
know how to break him in, but if he should die, I 
am not responsible for it. Do you want to kill 
him?" 

"No." 

"To poison him?" 

"No." 

"To get rid of him?" 

"Silence alone replied to Simon. " "I am horri- 
fied," continued Guizot, "at the recitals and 
spectacles of human cruelty, and this systematic 
cruelty exercised upon a child, offers a character 
so odious, that I do not care to dwell on it long. 
Simon wished to degrade the soul, debase the 
mind of the royal child confided to him. He 
intoxicated him, and forced him to repeat the 
songs which sullied his own lips; he had thus 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

obtained a signature, perhaps by force, to the 
infamous question produced before the judges of 
Marie Antoinette. But by and by the little child 
got weaker, the shame and horror of his situation 
overwhelmed him; he had no longer strength to 
resist, but he had sufficient to suffer in silence. 
He did not speak, he did not complain; suspicion 
of everything around him alone occupied this poor 
abandoned soul; he still said his prayers, in spite 
of the jugs of cold water that Simon threw over 
him at these times. When his tormentor had the 
honor to enter into the commune, the members of 
the Commission did not grant even a jailer to the 
son of Louis XVI. The former chamber of the faith- 
ful Clery was metamorphosed into a dungeon, the 
door was closed, and bread and water passed 
through a wicket; the child remained alone. His 
sister has relat-ed the sufferings of the little king, 
in a solitude which she was never permitted to 
break, and which oppressed her with grief in her 
neighboring prison. 

"He had no other recourse than a small bell, 
which he never rang, so much fear had he of the 
persons he would have called, preferring to want 
everything rather than to ask the least thing 
from his persecutors. He was in a bed which was 
not made for more than six months, and which he 
had no longer the strength to make. Fleas and 
bugs covered him, his linen and his body was full 
of them, and his shirt and stockings had not been 

100 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

changed for more than a year. His window, shut 
with a padlock, was never opened. It was not 
possible to stay in the infected chamber; the 
unfortunate child was dying- with fear. He asked 
for nothing", so much he trembled at his keepers. 
He passed the days without doing anything; they 
gave him no lights; it is not astonishing that he 
fell into a f righ tf ul consumption. To have resisted 
so many cruelties so long proves that he had a 
good constitution.' " 

The commune in its selection of the brutal shoe- 
maker Antoine Simon named his salary at 500 
francs a month. His wife, formerly a domestic 
servant, was his second wife and childless. His 
seat in the commune became suddenly vacant, as 
merited retribution followed Simon, who sided 
with Eobespierre and perished with him on the 
same guillotine. 

II. THE LITTLE KING WENT LIVING FROM THE 
TEMPLE. 

Whatever may have been the motive inspiring 
those who secretly arranged for the removal of 
the young King from his living tomb in the Tem- 
ple, it is certain that he did not die there. 

Some have supposed the Prince was secretly 
saved because Barras and Josephine had hopes 
that in happier times, they might bring him for- 
ward,^ and seated on his throne their fortune 
would be secure. Barras had been a soldier, and 

101 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

having" been a libertine and debauche had dissipa- 
ted an ample fortune, which drew him into the 
revolution as an adventurer, a member of the 
third estate and though a noble, a most ardent 
revolutionist. At the head of the committee and 
the soldiers who overthrew the infamous Robes- 
peirre, Barras was at the time he visited the 
Temple, the most powerful man in France, and 
retained his influence until Napoleon, whom he 
had made famous by appointing to command the 
artillery which scattered the mob and saved the 
convention, seized the government, when Barras 
went into obscurity. Some have thought the 
Prince was removed to a place of safety and 
obscurity, to clear the pathway for the Comte de 
Provence to the throne when the people of Prance 
should demand the Restoration. He was after- 
ward King of Prance, styled Louis XVIII. 

That the Prince was saved to serve the purpose 
of ambitious men and not from any feelings of 
humanity, does not change the suspicion and 
facts of history. In 1852, M. Beauchesne pub- 
lished an exhaustive work in two volumes, evi- 
dently inspired by some high authority, to prove 
the death of the Prince in the Temple, yet be 
only added to the obscurity surrounding the tomb 
of the Prince, while he admits, "Before the veil 
which has enveloped the tragical end of the son 
of Louis XVI, one is not astonished to hear it 
said with the warmth of profound conviction, 

102 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

that the young" victim went out living from his 
prison." 

France in 1794 was becoming tired of the hor- 
rors of the Revolution and the legitimists or 
Royal party, were growing in favor and their 
hopes centered in the prisoner in the Temple, or 
the stronger man beyond the border, the Comte 
de Provence, who had been justly accused even 
in his brother's lifetime of designs on the throne. 
His hopes increased as the condition of France 
grew worse; he kept up a correspondence with 
emissaries throughout the kingdom. 

Barras was among the leaders who overthrew 
Robespierre and was bound to maintain the power 
now in his hands. 

"By conniving at the escape of the young King 
or even by contriving it, Barras could please 
Josephine de Beauharnais, who at that time had 
an all-powerful influence over him, and the child 
could he be produced at the right moment, might 
checkmate the ambitious projects of Louis XVIII. , 
and serve purposes of his own. 

It is a fact that on the very night of his triumph 
on the 9th Thermidor, Barras went to the Temple; 
that he there saw the child King; that the very 
next day, without any communication with the 
committee of public safety, which up to that time, 
had controlled affairs in the prison, he assigned 
a retainer of his own to be superintendent of the 
prison, Laurent, a man born in Martinique, ( Jose- 

103 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

phine's birthplace) . Laurent turned out the peo- 
ple charged with the care of the child and put in 
a man and his wife named Lienard. " 

After Simon gave up the care of the Prince on 
January 19, 1794, he was transferred to the 
smaller room once used by Clery. It had one 
window fastened by a padlock, which stood in the 
deep recess of a nine foot stone wall, its meager 
light obscured by iron grating. His food was 
handed in through a revolving cage, obscuring the 
jailor, who never opened the apartment. No sun- 
light, no fresh air came to him, the room never 
cleaned or emptied, echoed to the sound of a gruff 
voice at evening, bidding him to bed, or calling 
him at dead of night for inspection at an iron grat- 
ing, by the light of a lantern. 

On his appointment July 27, 1794, Laurent keep- 
er of the Temple, went at night to the child King. 
No response came to the loud calls of Laurent, 
and the barricaded door was broken open. The 
chamber was hideous in filth and pestilential air. 
Laurent and associates made their way to the cot 
of the Prince, who was discovered to be still 
alive. His last food was not tasted. Worn to a 
skeleton, his skin scarcely visible for dirt, cov- 
ered with vermin, and vermin everywhere even 
knotted in his hair. He answered no questions, 
was conscious of nothing. His eyes had no ex- 
pression. ''To the first accents of pity which 
struck his ear for a long time, he only replied, 

'No, I wish to die.'" 

104 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 



III. THE DUMB BOY. 

During" the first three months, (July 27 to Nov. 
8, 1794), after Laurent took the care of the Royal 
children, many, persons saw the Prince, but none 
of them described him as either dumb or scrofu- 
lous, on the contrary all spoke of him as a some- 
what delicate child, with gentle manners, who 
charmed all of them. 

But suddenly instead of allowing visitors to 
have access to him, as had been the case for 
three months after Laurent came in, every one 
was forbidden to see him. This prohibition cor- 
responds with two circumstances: 

Madam Royal, his sister, relates that on the 
last night of October in the middle of the nig-ht, 
two municipal guards, much excited, forced their 
way into her chamber. They said nothing". All 
they wanted apparently was to see if she was 
there. No such thing happened before or after 
during her captivity. The second fact is that a 
week later Gomin was joined to Laurent. 

Laurent, a man of private property, not de- 
void of taste, information and good feeling", but a 
zealous republican, was kind to the little King", 
but after awhile tired of his lonely vigil applied 
to the Committee of General Safety for a col- 
league. Doubtless this was the method of intro- 
ducing a new warden to the boy, who took the 
place of the Prince in the Temple. 



105 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Gomin, who was appointed on Nov. 8, 1794, as 
associate, owes to this his only title to mention 
by posterity, corresponded with equal freedom 
with either royalist or republican and doubtless 
had an itching palm, for we find he made such 
favor with Madam Royal by his own story of his 
goodness to the Prince as to be taken into her 
service when she became the Duchess de Angou- 
leme. 

* 'Gomin was cleverer than Lasne, " says Duchess 
de Tourzel, *'but more ambitious and not so frank. 
He paid great attention to Madam de Chautereine, 
in hope that she might be useful to him; and he 
persuaded her that he came of a very good fam- 
ily, although he was merely the son of the guard 
of Madam Nicolai." 

On the century anniversary of the reputed 
death of the little King in the Temple, June 8, 
1895, ''Figaro" the. great Paris journal, issued a 
long review of the subject showing the King did 
not die in the Temple, from which Mrs. Latimer 
finds authority to write: ''About the time that 
Gomin went into the Temple there was a general 
impression among the underlings of the Temple 
that something strange had taken place. The 
fidelity of Laurent was called in question in the 
Sections. An official connected with the Temple 
said openly that it was hard for the guard to say 
if they were keeping watch over prisoners, or 
only over stones. All those who served in menial 

106 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

capacities in the Temple were changed, some of 
them at the request of Laurent, who had begun 
his service July 27, 1794, and some afterwards by 
the desire of Gomin. Up to this man's time there 
had been a daily inspection of the prison and the 
prisoners, by members of the Council-General of 
the Commune. This inspection was replaced by a 
daily visit from a deputation from the sections, 
taking the thirty-six sections in turn., so that 
instead of men who had seen the prisoners only 
a short time before, new men came, who were not 
likely to take their turn again for a long while. 

According to an old custom, things coming into 
the Temple were not examined, — only those that 
went out. It was easy enough therefore to bring 
a child into the Tower in a clothes basket, and 
this was done probably with two children, one 
after the other, while the young King was hidden 
in some secret corner, waited on by Gomin, Lien- 
ard and Laurent. 

This is the only way to account for the sudden 
dumbness of the child in prison, which took place, 
not in consequence of remorse for having been 
made to malign his mother, but nine months after 
the Simons had been removed from him, and 
kinder jailors had taken their place. The first 
child brought in to take the place of the young 
captive was dumb. The Dauphin, up to the time 
when Laurent divided his care of him, had spoken 
at least to twenty people. But the child com- 

107 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

mitted to Gomin's care on November 8, 1794, 
could not speak a single word. There are plenty 
of official documents and depositions on this sub- 
ject, the most important of which is the testimony 
of members of the Committee of Public Safety." 
(Figaro.) 

"Gomin told me that when the young King was 
handed over to their care," says the Duchess de 
Tourzel, "he was in a state of neglect which was 
painful to see, and from which he suffered the 
most disastrous inconvenience. He had fallen 
into a state of continual absorption; speaking 
little, and displaying unwillingness either to walk 
or to occupy himself with anything." 

Rev. Dr. John Hanson who wrote the "Lost 
Prince" supposed the Prince still the prisoner in 
the temple when Gomin went there and describes 
the secret operations of agents of the Comte de 
Provence to get possession of him. He supposes 
the escape of the Prince a few days before the 
death of the substitute who died June 8th, 1795. 
He says, "Gomin was a confident of M. le Marquis 
de Fenouil, a secret agent of Comte de Provence, 
who corresponded through one Doisy his valet 
de chambre. About the same time one Debierne 
appointed acting Commissioner co-operated with 
Gomin concerning the escape of the Prince. 

Debierne and Doisy represented themselves as 
relatives of Gomin and came frequently to see 
him in the apartments of Lienard the steward, 

108 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

who was also a sentinel. Debierne brought first 
plaything's for the Prince; then showed Gomin 
some assignats issued in the name of Louis XVII, 
made payable on the restoration; also told Gomin 
of a design to carry the Prince into La Vendee. 
One day he brought a dove concealed under his 
cloak into the temple. 

In the convention on December 28, 1794, it was 
declared there was no hope of quelling the royal- 
ists while the Prince remained in Paris, and 
''measures should be taken to purge the soil of 
the sole vestige of tyranny that remained;" and 
moved the Prince should be exiled. But on the 
22d of January, 1795, the committee reported un- 
favorable to the proposition because, "the expul- 
sion of tyrants had always prepared the way for 
their return. '* 

On February 26, 1795, the commissaries of the 
temple, Laurent and Gomin, reported to the com- 
mittee of General Safety that the life of the prince 
was in imminent danger and on being asked, 
"what was the nature of the danger," replied, 
"that the little Capet had tumors on all the arti- 
culations and particularly at the knees, that it 
was impossible to obtain from him a single word, 
and that always whether sitting or lying down he 
refused all kinds of exercise." 

A committee consisting of Hammond, Matthieu 
and Reverchon were appointed to visit the pris- 
oner, three friends of Barras, like himself mem- 

109 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

bers of the convention. They found him in a 
clean and well lighted room, having no furniture 
but a bedstead, a table and earthen stove. 

"The Prince," says Hammond, ''was sitting 
before a little square table, on which were scat- 
tered some playing cards, some bent into the form 
of boxes and little chests, others piled up in castles. 

He was amusing himself with these cards when 
we entered, but he did not give up his play. He 
was dressed in a sailor jacket of slate colored 
cloth, his head was bare. " Hammond approached 
him, he took no notice; and spoke to the Prince, 
but he looked steadily forward without any 
change in his position. He promised him toys, 
but he stared vacantly. To all questions he ans- 
wered neither by gesture, expression nor word. 
"Monsieur, have the goodness to give me your 
hand. He presented it, and I felt a tumor at the 
wrist, another at the elbow, like knots. The 
tumors were not painful for the Prince showed 
no sign of their being so. The other hand Mon- 
sieur. He presented it also. There was nothing. 
Permit me sir, to touch your legs and your knees. 
He raised himself up. I felt the same swelling at 
the two knees under the joints." His dinner was 
now brought. He ate without saying anything. 
They threatened if he did not speak to remove 
Laurent and Gomin, who were kind to him, and 
send him others who might be more disagreeable 
to him. He neither changed his look, nor gave 

110 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

an answer. "Do you wish," inquired Hammond, 
"that we should go away?" There was no reply. 

"The commissioners were present at his meal," 
says Guizot, "and found it insufficient for a sick 
child." "It was much worse before our time," 
said the keepers. For the honor of the nation, 
which was ig-norant, for the honor of the conven- 
tion, which should not have been ignorant of 
what passed at the Temple, for the honor of the 
culpable municipality of Paris, which knew all, 
and which allowed all," wrote Harmand of the 
Meuse, one of the representatives charged to 
visit the little King, "we limit ourselves to order 
provisionary measures. We do jiot make a public 
report to the Convention, but we render an ac- 
count under the seal of secrecy to the Committee 
of Public Safety. The prison and the solitude 
gradually finished their work; no doctor had yet 
been called to the child." 

"Another curious circumstance is that Harmand, 
almost immediately after this visit, was sent 
away as delegate to the West Indies. Barras 
himself had some idea of accompanying him on 
this mission. It looks as if they were planning to 
secure their own safety in any event, or as if it 
had been intended to send the child to some 
French colony in America." 

"Both Harmand and Barras went to Brest, 
stayed there several weeks, and then returned to 
Paris." 

ill 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

''Laurent left the Temple on March 29, 1795. 
It was said that he too was going- to the West 
Indies to attend to family affairs; but he did not 
leave Paris. Sometime later indeed he went to 
the Windward Islands on a mission for which he 
was well paid by the government. But by that 
time Barras was a member of the Directory, and 
Laurent was sent on the mission at his recom- 
mendation. A new turnkey took his place at the 
Temple, Etienne Lasne, on March 31, a house 
painter. [A captain of Grenadiers.] ['-A frank 
soldier devoid of ambition," says Tourzel.] 

''Gomin and Laurent had had under their care 
for six months a child who never spoke a word. " 

"The child confided to Lasne, he tells us him- 
self, could chatter like a little magpie. Gomin 
had nothing more to do with the young prince (or 
the child who personated him.) He was transferred 
to the service of Madam Royal." (Latimer.) 

IV. THE CHATTER-BOX. 

Soon as Lasne came in, there was a disposition 
to aid in the escape. The keys which made a 
noise in the locks were oiled. He ordered the 
doors on the landings to be left open. The act- 
ing commissaries objected to this saying doors 
were put there to be kept shut. There was per- 
fect accord between Gomin and Lasne. Hereto- 
fore the keys could only be used in presence of 
both the keepers, but now placed at the disposal 

112 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

of either of them at any time. They introduced 
music into the tower, and though unskilled, 
Gomin played the violin, and Lasne sang. All of 
which was said to allay suspicion. The Prince 
yielded after three weeks to the kindness of 
Lasne and during- the rest of his life took pleas- 
ure in chatting with him, and "contrary to his 
habit, he theed and thoud him, and treated him 
with familiarity. " 

"Beginning of May, 1795, the keeper wrote on 
the Register of the Tower "the little Capet is 
indisposed," and the next day, "the little Capet 
is dangerously ill, and there is fear of his death. " 

' 'On 6th of May, 1795, the keepers were informed 
that M. Desault the chief surgeon in Prance, and 
of world wide renown, was appointed to take 
care of the Prince. He ordered a decoction of 
hops and next day that his tumors be rubbed with 
volatil salts. These were his remedies while he 
attended him up to the 30th of May. June 1st 
Desault was poisoned." (Lost Prince.) 

''Desault is reported by M. Beauchesne to have 
said in conversation, that the Prince had the 
germ of the scrofulous affection of which his 
brother had died, at Meudon; but this malady 
had scarcely imprinted its seal on his constitu- 
tion, nor manifested itself with any violent sym- 
tom; neither vast ulcers, nor rebellious ophthal- 
mia, nor chronic swellings of the joints. ' ' He said 
he was sinking under decline occasioned by con- 

113 



PRINCE ORCREOLE 

finement and advised removal to the country. 
The Duchess D' Angouleme says "he undertook 
to cure him." No record of Desault's opinion 
remains. His papers cannot be found. Dr. 
Desault had been physician to the royal children 
and some said he did not recognize the Prince in 
his patient. Desault did not treat the patient as if 
he felt he was seriously ill. M. Abeille, his medical 
pupil, fled to America and declared that Desault 
was poisoned. " (Lost Prince.) 

"Three doctors were sent to see him, Desault, 
Chopart and Doublet. It is hinted that it proved 
a dangerous mission. All three shortly after died 
suddenly. The principal pupil of Desault, Dr. 
Abeille, went off to America for safety, and sub- 
sequently affirmed in an American paper ("The 
Bee"), that his master had been poisoned, because 
having seen the prince in happier times he had 
not recognized him in the child he was called 
upon to visit in the Temple, and had had the 
impudence to say so. Another physician and Dr. 
Desault's widow have made a similar declara- 
tion." (Latimer.) 

Four days after the death of Dr. Desault the 
Committee of General Safety appointed Dr. Pel- 
letan (June 5, 1795) an eminent surgeon to attend 
the boy in the Temple. He had never seen the 
Prince before. The child was in a sad state and 
he demanded another to be associated with him. 
"This child was not so shy, instead of waiting to 

114 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

be spoken to he began to converse with the 
strang-e physician and displayed every sign of a 
child alive to his surroundings." He required 
his removal into another room and fresh air. 
This was an airy chamber, no bars to the win- 
dows, which had white curtains. Here he could 
see the sunlight and sky. M. Dumangin, chief 
physician to the Hospital of the Unity, was joined 
to Pelletan, and both at once examined the child 
who continued to talk and chat with unabated 
interest. But their efforts were too late to save 
the life of this poor waif, who expired in the arms 
of Lasne at thirty minutes past two of the after- 
noon of June 8, 1795. (Lost Prince.) We are 
told that this event is recorded on the tombstone 
of this jailer in Pere Lachaise. 

V. THE SOLEMN FARCE. 

Some little time after the death, Gomin set off 
to the Tuileries to report it to the Committee of 
Public Safety, who had closed their sitting for 
the day, but met a member on the stairs who 
bade him ''keep the secret until tomorrow." The 
next day after the Process Verbal (post mortem) 
had been held, the Committee reported to the 
Convention, the death of the Prince, from "a 
swelling in the right knee and left wrist," add- 
ing, the committee had "received the news of the 
death of Capet's son at a quarter past two of the 
previous afternoon." The process verbal says 

115 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

he died at three o'clock; and Lasne says, at half 
past two. Gomin says three o'clock. But the 
very hour of the same day of the death of the 
Prince, the Committee of General Safety made 
the discovery that he had escaped, and the order 
was recorded and sent out to the departments to 
arrest on every high road in France, any traveler 
having- with them a child of eight years or there- 
about, as there had been an escape of Royalists 
from the Temple. This order bore date June 8th, 
1795, the day of the death of the supposed 
Dauphin. Several people bear witness to being 
arrested and detained for identification; among 
them M. Guerwiere of Paris; while traveling in 
the carriage of the Prince de Conde, under the 
suspicion that he, a boy of ten years was the 
Dauphin. 

On the morning of June 9, two members of the 
Committee came at 8 o'clock to verify the decease 
of the prince; but did not examine the body. 
"The event," they said, *'is a matter of no im- 
portance." "Proceed to the inhumation without 
any ceremony." Pour surgeons were named to 
open the body. Dr. Pelletan took the heart. He 
was buried in the cemetery of L' Eglise, Ste 
Marguerite, June 10, 1795. 

Mr. Auvray says he was well acquainted with 
the Dauphin, and was present when the body was 
exhibited to the National Guard, and, "that it 
was not the body of the Dauphin." (Lost Prince.) 

116 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

* 'There is a mystery even as to what this child died 
of. The dumb child had the rickets (rachitis) a 
disease that begins in infancy, preventing the 
nourishment of all the tissues affecting the spinal 
column and the rest of the bones. There was no 
mention in his case of scrofula, but the second 
child, the chatterbox, was eaten up by scrofula." 
(Latimer.) 

The physicians appointed to open the body of 
the dead child in the Temple were Pelletan and 
Dumangin, who had attended him, associated with 
Professors Lassas and Jeanroy, both of Medical 
schools. The latter was an old man over eighty 
years of age, a royalist and scrupulously honest. 
He was selected to disprove the charge of poison- 
ing. He at first refused to go to the Temple, 
warning them that if he found the slightest trace 
of poison he would mention it, even at the risk 
of his life. "You are precisely the man we must 
have," they replied, "and it is for that reason 
that we prefer you to anyone else." Their report 
recites: "We found upon a bed the body of a 
child, who appeared to us about ten years of age, 
which the Commissaries told us was the son of 
the deceased Louis Capet," and the death was, 
"evidently the effect of a scrofulous disease of 
long standing." The Convention had every 
reason for wishing to establish, as a fact, the 
death of the young King; and yet not a single 
person who had ever known the Dauphin living 

117 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

was called to identify the dead childs remains, 
though his sister was in the Temple and mem- 
bers of the Royal household were in the power 
of the authorities. The only people summoned 
to identify the remains were the municipal guards 
on duty at the Temple, about twenty men, and 
according to the official document, '*the greater 
part attested that they recognized Little Capet 
because they had seen him formerly at the Tuiler- 
ies. The child died at the age of ten, and for 
■five years before his death he had been little seen 
by the Parisians. "The man who announced the 
death to the Convention in the name of the Com- 
mittee of Public Safety, assured his hearers "that 
everything had been verified and all the docu- 
ments placed in their archives." This was not 
true. No one has ever seen the originals of 
these documents. A copy on a loose sheet of 
paper (contrary to the law of 1792) was among 
the city archives, and was burnt up when the 
Hotel de Ville was destroyed by the Communists 
in 1872. What is still more remarkable is that 
Gomin was not called upon to sign what is called 
'the act of decease. ' It was signed by one Bigot, 
a man totally unknown to the public, who called 
himself 'a friend of the King of France.' The 
interment was also singular. The archivist of 
the police affirmed that 'it was secret, and in some 
sort clandestine. ' " "But, Voisin, undertaker for 
the Section of the Temple says: 

118 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

I. That the coffin was not closed in the Temple. 

II. That the four men who were concerned in 
the burial died sudden and mysterious deaths. 
The theory advanced is that while the coffin lay 
unclosed after official inspection of the child who 
died of scrofula, the real prince, who had been 
hidden away in some corner of the Temple, and 
waited on by Laurent at first, and afterwards by 
some other man, may have been placed in the 
coffin, and so carried out of the Temple. The 
coffin was not carried in a hearse, but in a furni- 
ture wagon. The child may have been taken out 
of it on the way to the cemetery and something- 
heavy substituted. A watch for three days was 
placed over the graveyard. An old Member of 
the Committee of Public Safety has affirmed in 
writing that the boy who died of scrofula was 
secretly buried at the foot of one of the towers of 
the Temple; and General d' Andigne, seven years 
later, being confined in the Temple, and permit- 
ted to amuse himself with gardening, testifies 
that he found there a small skeleton, that had 
been buried in quicklime." (Latimer do.) 

''The names of the two children substituted for 
the prince are known. M. Charles Tardif twice 
affirmed that he furnished the dumb boy. As to 
the scrofulous child who died June 8, 1795, his 
mother. Mademoiselle Lamonger, fled with ano- 
ther child, a daughter, to Martinique, the native 
Island of Josephine de Beauharnais, and they did 

119 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

not come back to France as long as the Bourbons 
were in power. All these things did not take 
place without a rousing suspicion. Children were 
arrested on the roads out of Paris under the idea 
that they might be the Dauphin. The leaders of 
the royalist party in La Vendee refused to believe 
in his death, and would not acknowledge Louis 
XVIII as their King. Charette, the Vendean 
leader at that date, thus apostrophizes Louis 
XVII, in a celebrated order to his forces: ''Hard- 
ly by the fall of Robespierre wast thou delivered 
from the ferocity of the extreme Jacobins, when 
thou becamest the victim of natural defenders." 
(Latimer do. ) 
But what, then became of Louis XVII? 

VI. "FAR TOO TALL." FOR THE LITTLE KING. 

But here is a narrative repeated in the ''Lost 
Prince" from Ireland, which read in connection 
with the finding of the remains said to be those 
of the boy who died in the temple, add greatly to 
confirm the escape of the Prince. 

"A very respectable tradesman," says Ireland, 
in stating the prevalent disbelief in Paris at the 
Restoration, concerning the Dauphin's death, "is 
my authority for the following narrative, who 
has heard my father, to whom the circumstance 
occurred, repeat it in society fifty times. I shall 
now give it, as nearly as possible in his own 
words, or, rather, as if the father himself were 
repeating the facts: 

120 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

'' 'As I was then a resident in that part of the 
city in which the Temple was situated, in my 
capacity as National Guard, it became my turn 
to attend there as sentry; when having" seen the 
Dauphin about six months before, and being- 
anxious to behold him again, if possible, prior to 
his death, as the current report was his being* 
in a very dangerous state; I, in consequence ap- 
plied to the jailor to know whether I might be 
permitted to occupy the post of the guard, 
destined to keep watch on the Dauphin's apart- 
ment, there being always one stationed there. 
To this request, after regarding me with an air 
of doubt, which the frankness of my manner dis- 
pelled, he acceded under one proviso, that I was 
not to exchange a single syllable with citizen 
Capet in case he addressed me, as the infringe- 
ment of such order would be attended with the 
loss of my head. I promised strict obedience to 
his commands, and immediately entered upon my 
duties, being forthwith introduced into the cham- 
ber, where I relieved a brother guard. In this 
apartment there were three common chairs, a 
table, and a low bedstead, whereupon the Dau- 
phin was lying, but from the position of the bed 
clothes, I could not perceive his countenance, and 
thus I continued nearly the space of an hour, only 
observing, at intervals, a motion beneath the 
covering; at length, however, he pushed away 
the sheet from his head, when I was able to con- 

121 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

sider a countenance squalid in the extreme, par- 
tially covered with blotches, and disfigured by- 
one or two sores; as he perceived in me a stran- 
ger, he inquired, in a faint voice, who I was, but 
the peremptory order received, and the heavy 
price set upon a breach of my faith, sealed my 
lips, upon which I placed my finger, thereby in- 
dicating the prohibition under which I lay. At 
this he appeared displeased, and after turning 
about, I beheld his body rise until he sat upright 
in bed, when nothing could exceed my astonish- 
ment, on viewing a figure much taller, from the 
head to the bottom of the back, than the Dauphin 
could possibly have displayed from what I had 
seen of him only six months before; my wonder, 
however, increased on beholding him thrust his 
legs from beneath the covering, from which I was 
enabled to form an estimate of the figure before 
me, if standing erect, when I felt an inward con- 
viction, that however extraordinary the efforts of 
nature may be in some cases, no such change 
could have taken place in the growth of a youth 
in the half a year, as must have been the case, 
supposing the object before me to be the Dauphin. 
With respect to the physiognomy it was impos- 
sible to identify from thence anything for a cer- 
tainty, as the frightful effects of disease, with 
blotches and sores, had so disfigured the counte- 
nance, that no conjecture could be hazarded as 
to what its appearance might be in a healthful 

122 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

state; the lips, like the face, were also covered 
with livid spots, and it appeared to me that there 
were also scabs on the hinder part of the head, in 
short, a more pitiable object never met the human 
sight, whosoever it may have been, for as to the 
Dauphin, I am fully convinced it was not him. 
After remaining some minutes with the legs 
exposed, and seated in a kiud of stupefied posi- 
tion, he again replaced them beneath the clothes, 
and covered himself as high as the neck, leaving 
the face exposed, and turned toward me, the 
eyes being somewhat shut for a few minutes, 
which, when reopened, were always bent upon 
me, and in two or three instances, I saw the lips 
move, and heard a faint articulation, but nothing 
was distinguishable. In this manner the allotted 
period of my attendance elapsed, upon which I 
was relieved by another National Guard from the 
melancholy duty, and descended to the chamber 
adjoining the grand entrance to the Temple, 
where I found the jailer, who inquired of me how 
I left the citizen Capet; upon which, after 
expressing my opinion that his death must soon 
take place, I very foolishly remarked that I 
thought the youth by far too tall for the Dauphin 
— when he hastily demanded my reason for har- 
boring such a doubt. I then explained having 
seen the youth six months before, and the abso- 
lute - impossibility of such a change in stature 
taking place within so short a period. To which 

123 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

remark I received the following- sing-ular reply; 
'Sick children, citizen, will sometimes shoot up 
very fast; but I a'dvise you to go home and keep 
a still tongue in your mouth, lest you should grow 
shorter by the head.' I immediately left the 
prison and profited by his advice, as I never 
opened my lips upon the subject until the settled 
state of affairs in France, left me to do so with- 
out any apprehension of danger." (Lost Prince.) 

VII. COFFIN MARKED "L — XVII " EXHUMED AND, 
THE BONES FOUND TO BE THOSE OF AN ADULT. 

It is singular how closely the above narrative 
is confirmed by the examination of the bones. 

''The Dauphin's body was interred in the church- 
yard at St. Marguerite, which is now a garden. 
At the Restoration a search for it was instituted, 
but abandoned. In 1846, workmen while digging 
for some repairs came upon a lead coffin contain- 
ing bones. These were believed to be the Dau- 
phin's, and the discovery was reported by two 
doctors to the Academy of Medicine. The coffin 
was closed again and reburied. The Prefact of 
the Seine allowed a fresh search to be made in 
June, 1894. The coffin found in 1846 was taken 

up, on the lid was found "L XVII," but the 

medical experts pronounced the body to be of the 
stature of an adult, and the teeth to be those of a 
person more than twelve years of age, the milk 
teeth having all disappeared, while the wisdom 

124 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

teeth were on the point of cutting. Thus the 
age was from eighteen to twenty, and the height 
5 feet, 7 inches." (Paris, in 1789-1794, by J. G. 
Alger; James Pott & Co.; New York, 1902.) 

VIII. HISTORY CONFIRMS THE ESCAPE. 

The political party which in 1795 succeeded 
the Reign of Terror, and the Provisional Govern- 
ment of the Commune of Paris, was willing 
enough to favor the child's escape. A time might 
come when in their hands he might be played off 
against Louis XVIII. But his existence and 
recognition were above all unwelcome to his 
uncle and his partisans. The Due de Bourbon, 
prince of the blood, writes thus to Conde: ''Ru- 
mors are becoming rife that the little king did 
not die in the Temple. True or false, this would 
be for us a serious embarrassment, if the rumors 
should take any consistency." 

In the camp of the emigres at Coblentz w^ere 
numerous noblemen and gentlemen whose lands 
had been confiscated, and who had accustomed 
themselves to look to the Comte de Provence as 
the man who would restore them. They could 
make no use of a child ten years of age as an 
active head of their party. Far better for them 
that if living, his existence should be denied. 
They had accustomed themselves to speak of 
Louis XVI. with small respect, and to place all 
their hopes upon his brother. Gogue]at, (the 

125 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

unlucky Goguelat of the Flight to Varennes), 
who had escaped to Coblentz, wrote: *'I never 
heard Louis XVI, spoken of with so much irrev- 
erence as by these men. They call him a poor 
creature, a mere chip; a bigot only good to say 
his prayers. And their opinions, I am told, 
emanate from the personal following of Monsieur, 
who had set them afloat. " Had Louis XVII sud- 
denly appeared among his supporters even in La 
Vendee, their first enthusiasm would soon have 
been damped by a feeling of his uselessness to 
help their cause. The child would have been unwel- 
come to the allies, even to Austria, whose min- 
isters, as we have seen, were eager to make peace. 
Louis XVIII, who hated Marie Antoinette, had 
not scrupled long before to hint that he believed 
her son to be a bastard. He would certainly 
have treated him as such had he fallen into his 
hands. Clearly the best thing to be done with 
the poor child was to hide him away till the time 
came for his restoration of the monarchy, which 
Barras, in common with most men, believed to 
be at hand. Then he could be played off against 
Louis XVIII. Barras could not forsee the ten 
years of the Empire that would precede the 
Restoration, or imagine that his friend Josephine 
(in possession of his state secret if not, indeed 
his partner in it) would be seated on a throne as 
empress of half of Europe. (Latimer do.) 

The Figaro from which most of this account is 

126 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

copied gives a whole column to the names of per- 
sons who have testified to some knowledge of the 
substitution of other children for Louis XVII, 
and of his being spirited away from the Temple. 
Among these names is that of a Marquise de Bro- 
glie-Solari, attached to the household of Marie 
Antoinette, and to that of the Princesss de Lam- 
balle. This lady testified that she heard it in 
1803 from Barras, and in 1819 and 1820 from 
Queen Hortense, the daughter of Josephine. 

There is reason to think that Josephine 
knew the story and believed it. Of late years 
papers have been written to attribute her sudden 
and somewhat mysterious death to that incon- 
venient knowledge. The Comtesse d' Adhemar, 
ex-dame du palais of Marie Antoinette, wrote: 
''Assuredly I do not wish to multiply the chances 
of imposters, but in writing this in the month of 
May, 1799, I certify on my soul and conscience, 
that I am positively certain that Sa Majeste 
Louis XVII did not die in the Temple." The 
Duchesse d' Augouleme was never convinced of 
her brother's death, though she was obliged, from 
motives of policy, to acquiesce in the view taken 
by the male members of her family. The Vicomte 
de Rochejacquelin wrote to her on the subject: 
"Though we may believe that the unhappy child 
was withdrawn from the cruelty of his persecut- 
ors, and that, to save his life, he was obliged to 
live in obscurity, such a lif ewould make him little 

127 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

suitable to be recognized as heir to the French 
monarchy; and, in short, in the condition of 
Europe, it is quite conceivable that it would have 
been useless to bring forward Louis XVII, and 
that his death, and the death of those that sup- 
ported him would have been the consequence." 

It is said that to the Treaty of 1814 between 
France and thejallies, which restored Louis XVIII 
to the throne; there w^as this secret article: 
"That although the high contracting powers, the 
allied sovereigns, have no certain evidence of the 
death of the son of Louis XVI, the state of 
Europe require that they should place at the head 
of the government of France, Louis Xavier, 
Comte de Provence etc.," and also this added: 

* 'The contracting parties reserve their liberty 
to assist in mounting on the French throne him 
who they may conceive has the more legitimate 
right to it." 

It is certain that Josephine said to the Emperor 
Alexander, "You may re-establish royalty, but 
you will not re-establish legitimacy. " A peer of 
France has recorded in his souvenirs that in April 
1814, one month before the death of the Empress 
Josephine he had seen documents "w^hich con- 
tained secrets calculated to upset European 
diplomacy, if they ever came to light." He 
implored Josephine to destroy them. "No," she 
said; "my resolution is fixed. I shall communi- 
cate these papers to the Emperor Alexander. He 

128 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

is just, I know, and will wish that everything 
should be put in its right place. He will look 
after the interests of an unfortunate young man." 
*'I made no further objections," added the narra- 
tor. "Josephine acted as she thought best, and 
told what it had been better for her to have kept 
secret. Her sudden death, a week later, took an 
important witness out of the way." 

It may be added that on the very night of her 
death, which the three physicians who attended 
her attributed to poison, all her papers, on a 
frivolous pretext, were seized by the police, and 
the larger part of them were never restored. 

As soon as the empress was dead, it was rumored 
in Paris that she had known the circumstances 
of the Dauphin's disappearance from the Temple; 
that she had even had a hand in it; and that in 
a secret interview with the Emperor Alexander it 
had been agreed between them that the affairs of 
France should be provisionally settled until Louis 
XVII should be discovered, when the Emperer 
Alexander "reserved to himself the right" to do 
him the justice that was legitimately his due. 
With this the secret clause in the Treaty of 1814, 
already quoted, would seem to agree. (Latimer 
do.) Louis Blanc says: "After the Restoration, 
which placed Louis XVIII on the throne, the 
recovery of Louis XVII would have caused incal- 
culable embarrassments. This being the case, a 
government by no means scrupulous could very 

129 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

easily overlook family considerations, in virtue 
of reasons of state, whether it knew the truth, 
or preferred to ignore it. " 

The most remarkable proof that Louis XVIII 
did not believe in his nephew's death was, that 
when he raised the Chapelle Expiatoire to the 
memory of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, he 
took no notice of the death of Louis XVII. But 
the Duchesse d' Angouleme seems always to have 
had it in her heart that she might recover traces 
of her lost brother. Not that it would have been 
in her power to do anything to restore him to his 
position; and her acknowledgment of the rights 
would have destroyed those of her husband, her 
father-in-law, her uncle, and her great-nephew, 
the Due de Bordeaux. On leaving the Temple in 
1796, the princess wrote to her uncle, speaking of 
the Jacobins, "They have compassed the deaths 
of my father, and my mother, and my aunt." She 
does not mention her brother. Again in 1801, 
when General d' Andigne had discovered the little 
skeleton in the Temple garden, and was anxious 
to speak of it to the Duchesse d' Angouleme, he 
was not permitted to have an interview with her. 
She told Comte de Feys when search was being 
made for the Dauphin's body in the cemetery of 
Ste. Marguerite, "that from the first she had not 
been sure of her brother's death in the Temple, 
but that she at last knew what had become of 
him. " There was not only no monument erected 

130 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

to Louis XVII in the Chapelle Expiatoire, but a 
funeral service to his memory, that was to have 
taken place at St. Denis, was never had. The 
Bishop of Moulins has told us that his father (at 
the time Grand Master of Ceremonies), having- 
asked Louis XVIII, the reason, received this ans- 
wer: *'We do not feel sure of the death of my 
nephew." There was a superstition among the 
French clerg-y that all the misfortunes that fell 
fast on the Royal Bourbons after their restora- 
tion were a judgment upon them for the non- 
recognition of Louis XVII. The Secretary-Gen- 
eral of the Diocese of Strasburg said that the cer- 
tainty Monsignor Tarin had of the existence of 
Louis XVII led him to give up his position as 
tutor to the Due de Bordeaux. "Monsignor," 
said the Marquis de Nicolai, one day to him, "the 
royal family believes as much as you or I do that 
Louis XVII is still living. " (Latimer do.) 

The necessity that the Bourbons on their restor- 
ation should maintain the truth of the death of 
the little King was forcibly set forth by a Russian 
named Van Rochow, on the first attempt made by 
Naundorff to establish his identity with Louis 
XVII. "If this young man be the Dauphin of 
France," he said, "he cannot be acknowledged as 
such, because that acknowledgment would be to 
the dishonor of all the monarchies of Europe." 

In January, 1816, a law was passed in both 
Chambers, to erect a monument at public expense 

131 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

to Louis XVII, and the King issued a royal ordi- 
nance to have the monument erected in the church 
of the Medeleine and directed Lemot a parisian 
sculptor to execute it. But it was never erected. 
The epitaph furnished for the monument remains 
uncut on the marble. The minister of police, 
issued an order to place the remains in St. Denis. 
A report was made locating the grave in one of 
two lots at the cemetery. But no exhumation 
was attempted. Orders were also issued to have 
the heart placed in the coffin, but this was never 
accomplished. 

IX. THE UNCLAIMED HEART. 

The heart of the boy who did die in the temple 
had a romantic career. Pelletan secreted it in a 
handkerchief, arrived at home he placed it in a 
bottle of spirits. A student abstracted it, but 
after confessing it was restored. The Duchess of 
Augouleme after the Restoration visited the 
hotel Dieu hospital to question Pelletan about it. 
for Chateaubraind had spoken of it in the Cham- 
ber of Peers. The hundred days intervened, and 
two years later Pelletan had hopes of some recog- 
nition for its restitution, as inquiry was begun, 
but neither Louis XVIII nor Charles X dis- 
played any inclination to weep over that stray 
heart, or accept it. It is said Lasne informed the 
King Louis XVIII that he was present and Pelle- 
tan did not take the heart. It was in charge of 

132 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

the archbishop of Paris, until his palace was 
sacked by the mob in 1831, when itVas found in a 
cupboard and sent to Pelletan's son. From 1879 
it was possessed by Prosper Deschamps, heir of 
Dr. Pelletan, son of the Pelletan who abstracted 
it. Comte de Chambord would not notice offers 
of it made to him, but in 1895, a century after be- 
ing abstracted, it was accepted by Don Carlos, 
and found a burial at last in the tomb of Comte 
de Chambord, who died 1883. 



f|? 



133 



XI 

FLIGHT OF THE LITTLE KING TO AMERICA 

MADAM Campan had been all her life a close 
intimate of the Royal family up to the 
moment she was refused permission to go 
with them into the Temple, and knew everyone 
in France who was any body. Her brother M. 
Genet had early espoused the republican cause, 
though not to the disfavor of his sister with the 
King- or Queen, and had been many years in the 
diplomatic service, to different European coun- 
tries under the King and under the Revolution, 
and had been Ambassador of France to the United 
States. He was therefore in a position to have 
heard the whisperings disclosing the hiding place 
of the little King. He was to bring both the 
royal children to America when he came as 
Ambassador. A carriage with a false back to 
conceal them had been made, but was seized and 
broken by the mob. 

In the year 1818 there was a dinner party at 
the house of Dr. Hosack, in New York City, at 
which were present as guests M. Genet, the ex- 
ambassador; the Comte Jean d' Angeley; Dr. 
John W. Francis; Dr. Macneven; Counsellor Simp- 
son; Thomas Cooper of Carlisle. Of these Dr. 
Francis alone survived when he gave this infor- 

134 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

mation which was published in 1853 by Rev. Dr. 
Hanson. The conversation included the subject 
of the little King and his disappearance. Then 
Genet said: "Gentlemen, the Dauphin of France 
is not dead, but was brought to America." There 
was much conversation on the same subject, dur- 
ing which M. Genet informed the company among 
other things, that he believed the Dauphin was in 
western New York, and that Le Ray de Chaumont 
knew all about it. In 1795 or 1796 this French 
gentleman, arrived from France and settled in St. 
Lawrence County, in northern New York, where 
-he lived in affl-uence, and was intimate with the 
Indians of St. Regis and Hogansburg, where the 
Mohawks of the Iroquoi nation were living at 
their reservation and mission. 

There gathers about the name of Belanger, 
Bellenger, Bellanger, or Boulanger, as variously 
spelled, through the years of mystification which 
cover the retreating steps of the little King, a 
peculiar fascination which is becoming quite as 
positive history as much that passes for that sin- 
gular name for misinformation. Mary Hartwell 
Catherwood in that interesting fiction "Lazarre" 
which purports to be founded on the story of the 
lost little King, has made much of this Bellenger, 
who she keeps at the front in many a ficticious 
adventure with the little King in Europe and 
America. Mrs. Catherwood implies that she be- 
lieves King Louis XVIII was concerned to retain 

135 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

the little King- in obscurity. In the well written 
and well played drama of "Lazarre" by its play- 
wright and actor, Otis Skinner, this character of 
Belleng-er also acts an important part. While 
for the most part the story of Bellenger as pic- 
tured in both the book and the play is pure fiction, 
there is historical evidence that Bellenger was 
associated in those dark Temple days with the 
little King and some ground to believe that he 
was the one who broug-ht the little King to 
America. This Bellenger was a character in the 
Revolution and a member of the Jacobin Club, 
which was among the worst of the Revolutionary 
societies of France. Bellenger had been a lieu- 
tenant under Rosin the butcher of the Vendee. 
When Robespierre was denounced on the 9th 
Thermidore (July 27, 1794), at the same time 
Billaud Varennes arose in the Convention, and 
exclaimed: "I demand that Dumas be arrested as 
well as Boulanger; he was the most ardent yester 
night at the Jacobins." While many were ar- 
rested and executed with the infamous Robes- 
pierre, Bellenger went unmolested, but whether 
due to friendship of Barras we do not know. 
That he was a person of means, having landed 
estates is shown by the following record: "Belan- 
ger an architect and landscape gardener, com- 
plained that a house which he had let out in flats 
was seized upon by the place Vendome section, 
which turned out the occupants and crowded 

136 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

sixty-three English into it as a house of deten- 
tion. He was threatened that if he remonstrated 
he would himself be arrested." (J. G. Alger, 
"Paris 1789-1794. ") Formerly this Bellenger had 
been an artist and designer, trusted by King 
Louis XVIII when he was the Comte de Provence; 
and the Rev. Dr. Hanson who wrote the "Lost 
Prince," supposed it was by his efforts under the 
pay of the Comte de Provence then in exile, that 
Bellenger secured the release and flight of the 
little King. Under whose patronage we do not 
know, but it is certain that Bellenger was ap- 
pointed between May 31st to June 5th, 1795, as 
Commissary at the Temple. The only prisoners 
there then, being the boy substituted for the 
King, and Madam Royal. Mrs. Elizabeth Worm- 
ley Latimer in, "My Scrap Book of the French 
Revolution" says: "The idea of Rev. Hanson is 
that the substitution of the child who died of 
scrofula took place between May 31, 1795 and 
June 5, four days, when no one saw the boy but 
Laurent, Lasne, Gomin and Bellenger, who had 
just been appointed Commissionary at the Tem- 
ple. I may here remark that neither Eleazer Wil- 
liams nor Rev. Hanson had ever heard the name of 
Bellenger in connection with the prisoner in the 
Temple, until after his confession on his death- 
bed at Bat^n Rouge, Louisiana." The following 
description of Bellengers' coming to the Temple 
is from Beauchesne of 1852: "On the 11th Prairial 

137 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

(30th May), le Sieur Brieullard, the acting com- 
missary for the day, who accompanied Desault, 
said to him in going- down the staircase: 'The child 
will die, will he not?' 'I fear it; but there are, 
perhaps, those persons in the world who hope he 
will," replied Desault, the last words which he 
pronounced in the tower of the Temple, and 
which, though spoken in a low voice, were heard 
by Gomin, who walked behind Brieullard. 

*'0n the 12th Prairial (31st May), the acting 
commissary, on his arrival at nine o'clock, said 
he would wait for the doctor in the chamber of 
the child, to which he caused himself to be intro- 
duced. This commissary was M. Bellanger, 
painter and designer of the cabinet of Monsieur, 
(theComte de Provence, afterwards Louis XVIII), 
who lived at No. 21 Rue Poissonniere. He was 
an honest man; the misfortune of his benefactor, 
alas, in these sad times, almost an exception, 
had not dried up the devotion of his heart. M. 
Desault did not come. M. Bellanger, who had 
brought a portfolio filled with his drawings, 
asked the Prince if he liked painting; and, with- 
out waiting for an answer, which did not come, 
the artist opened his portfolio and put it under 
the eyes of the child. He turned it over, at first 
with indifference, afterwards with interest, dwelt 
a long time on each page, and when he had fin- 
ished, began again. This long examination 
seemed to give some solace to his sufferings and 

138 












^ '.f 



Eleazer Williams, 1806 

Fac simile of pencil sketch by Chevalier Fagnani from original portrait by 
J. Stewart of Hartford in 1806 — (from lost Prince.) 



PRINCE ORCREOLE 

some relief to the chagrin which was caused by 
the absence of his physician. The artist often 
gave him explanation of the different subjects of 
his collection. The child had at first kept silence 
but, little by little, he listened to M. Bellanger 
with marked attention, and finished by answer- 
ing" his questions. 

"In taking the portfolio from his hands, M. 
Bellanger said to him, 'I much desire, sir, to take 
away one drawing- more, but I will not do it if 
you object. ' 

'What drawing?' said the Dauphin. 'That of 
your countenance; it will give much pleasure, if 
it will not cause you pain.' 'Will it give you 
pleasure?' said the child, and the most gracious 
smile completedihis sentence and the mute appro- 
bation which he gave to the desire of the artist. 
M. Bellanger traced in crayon the profile of the 
young king, and it is from this profile, that some 
days later, M. Beaumont, the sculptor, and 
twenty years after, manufacturer of Sevres por- 
celain, executed the bust of Louis XVII." 

Eleazer Williams was the name under which 
the little King was known in the United States. 
He was known among the Indians of Caughna- 
waga and St. Regis as Lazare, which in some 
erroneous manner has been changed to Eleazer. 
In the great mass of literature on the subject he 
is styled the Lost Dauphin, which is an historical 
error we cannot explain, as he was King Louis 

139 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

XVII, after the murder of the King- his father, 
and so styled by his friends and called the little 
King-. While relating in 1851 to Rev. Hanson the 
evidence of his descent from the Bourbons, Rev. 
Eleazer Williams said of this Bellenger whose 
name Rev. Hanson spells Belanger, that: "A 
French man died at New Orleans in 1848, named 
Belanger, who confessed on his death bed that 
he was the person who brought the Dauphin to 
this country, and placed him among the Indians, 
in the northern part of the state of New York. It 
seems that Belanger had taken a solemn oath of 
secrecy, alike for the preservation of the Dau- 
phin, and the safety of those who were instru- 
mental in effecting his escape, but the near 
approach of death, and the altered circumstances 
of the times, induced him to break silence before 
his departure from the world. He died in Janu- 
ary, 1848. Now the person who had charge of 
the Dauphin after the death of Simon, stabbed a 
man in a political quarrel in France, and fed for 
safety. He it was I suppose who, with the 
assistance and connivance of others, carried the 
youth with him to the low countries, and thence 
to England. He must have changed his own 
name for greater security, crossed the Atlantic, 
and after depositing him with the Indians, gone 
to Louisiana and there lived and died. " The let- 
ter referred to was, as Rev. Eleazer Williams 
says received by him from Mr. Thomas Kimball 

140 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

dated at Baton Rouge, and he told Rev. Hanson 
in the presence of Dr. Hawks the eloquent 
preacher and historian in Dr. Hawks' study in 
New York, in 1852, that: *'Mr. Kimball's letter 
is I think among my papers at Green Bay;" Rev. 
Eleazer Williams has never produced this letter, 
which leaves the statement dependent on his ver- 
acity which many have questioned, yet not suc- 
cessfully in this particular at least. This letter 
is said to have been a fiction of Colonel Henry E. 
Eastman of Green Bay, who was in 1845 the 
agent of Amos A. Lawrence, the wealthy Boston 
business man in negotiating as to the interest 
Lawrence had acquired in the landed estate of 
Rev. Eleazer Williams. He claimed to have 
written a romance based on Louis XVII and to 
have made Eleazer Williams the chief character, 
gave him the manuscript to read, and he having 
copied them returned them to Colonel Eastman. 
The story of the death-bed confession of Bellen- 
ger, Eastman says was his own fiction included 
in the story as exhibited to Eleazer Williams. 
Colonel Eastman assumes to be amazed when he 
saw his fiction repeated in "Putnams Magazine" 
in 1853, in connection with the article, ''Have we 
a Bourbon among us," by Rev. Dr. John Hanson. 
Mr. Eastman says he wrote the story in 1847 or 
1848 at Green Bay. Rev. Hanson went to New 
Orleans but could find no trace of Bellenger. As 
the information connecting Bellenger in any way 

141 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

with the Temple was not a matter of general 
information until after 1852, when M. Beauchesne 
published his two volumes and the Figaro dis- 
closures in 1895, it was impossible that Eastman 
could have hit upon the name. 

"In the fall of 1841, quite an excitement was 
raised in our quiet town by the visit of the Prince 
de Joinville. From that time began the question 
of Rev. Eleazer Williams being the lost Prince," 
says Mrs. Mary Irvin Mitchell. This was seven 
years before Eastman claims to have invented the 
story. Mr. W. W. Wight's paper proves the East- 
man claim to discovering Eleazer Williams to be 
the Lost Dauphin, as an evident desire to break 
into the sensation. Putnam of 1853, contained: 
"The startling discovery of the mislaid Dauphin 
in my own language;" says Colonel Eastman, 
"the original story of the 'Lost Prince' was my 
story," composed about the summer M 1847, or 
the following winter of 1848. This is disproved 
by Mr. Wight who says : ' 'Just about 1838 Eleazer 
entered the office of Geo. H. Haskins, editor of 
the Buffalo Express, and confided to him under 
seal of the most profound secrecy that he, Eleazer 
was not what he appeared to be, but was in real- 
ity the Dauphin of France." This was ten years 
before Eastman claimed he "was the originator 
of the idea and story of Williams being the Lost 
Prince." Rev. Dr. Lathrop writes, says Lym^an 
C. Draper, "that Mr. Williams gave him both in 

142 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

1843 and 1848, an account of the interview with 
the Prince de Joinville;" and the William's jour- 
nal records the interview in 1841, all of which dis- 
credited the presumption of Colonel Eastman to 
the authorship of the Williams Dauphinship. 
After the appearance of ''Putnam" with Dr. Han- 
son's paper in 1853, the subject attracted wide 
spread attention and added twenty thousand new 
subscribers to the magazine. Mrs. Brown living 
in New Orleans in 1854, but who had not seen the 
article, was visited by Dr. Hanson and voluntar- 
ily testified under oath that she had been wife to 
the secretary of the Comte de Artois, and had 
resided at Holyrood, from 1804 to 1810; that she 
was admitted to some intimacy by the Duchesse 
d' Aug-ouleme, sister of the little King, who once 
told her that she knew the baby King was alive 
and in America; that she heard of Bellenger as 
the man who brought him over; and the name of 
Williams was mentioned in that connection. She 
added that while the royal family knew the baby 
King was alive, they asserted he was incompe- 
tent to reign. The wife to the secretary of the 
Comte de Coigny had told Mrs. Brown that she 
had heard Bellenger had brought the King to 
America; that the subject had been much dis- 
cussed in the royal palace, where it was said the 
elevation of such a person to the throne would 
but increase the disorder of the times, and that 
one who came from America to confer with the 

143 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

family on the subject, had been given money and 
he returned. 

As to the Rev. Eleazer Williams being- of 
French descent, brought to America and depos- 
ited among the Indians at Lake George: One 
John O'Brien, a half breed Indian, made an affi- 
davit in 1853, that he was born about 1752 at 
Stockbridge; his father was an Irishman, and his 
mother an Oneida. In 1764 he was sent to France 
to be educated, where he remained until in the 
Revolution returning with Lafayette, and went 
among the Oneidas. In 1795, while at Ticonde- 
roga on Lake George, there came two French- 
men, with whom he conversed in their language, 
who had with them a silly French boy about ten 
or twelve years of age. After the Frenchmen 
departed O'Brien saw this boy in the family of 
Thomas Williams, an Indian where the child lived. 
He was at Lake George sometime after, when this 
boy playing with the children at the southwest 
end of the lake near the old Fort, either jumped 
or fell into the lake, and was taken out wounded, 
and carried to the hut of Thomas Williams. He 
saw the boy after this from time to time and he is 
the same now known as Eleazer Williams. 



144 



XII. 



ELEAZER WILLIAMS 

HOWEVER descended, Eleazer Williams had 
a most remarkable and distinguished an- 
cestry, as he was himself a remarkable 
and distinguished character. The story of his 
birth as told by friend or enemy, is equally as his- 
torically noble. Every possible genealogy yet 
made up for him traces him back to kings and 
queens, who have made history in every stage of 
the world's progress for over a thousand years. 

Whether Creole or Bourbon, his veins ran noble 
blood. In either descent he can trace a relation- 
ship to King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth of Eng- 
land and Oliver Cromwell, or a direct descent 
from Maria Theresa of Austria, and St. Louis or 
Henry of Navarre. In his veins ran the blood of 
either Bourbon, Hapsburg or Tudor. His birth is 
not a mystery, in that his origin is unknown. It 
is known to be either one or the other of these 
noble lines. His worst enemy will admit and 
prove his descent from the most distinguished 
ancestry. His friends also. His enemies only 
claim he is not the Lost King Louis XVII, of 
France; to prove which they show a genealogy 
ranging back in the days of the earliest kings of 
Britain, even eleven hundred years before the 

145 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

christian era, whose descendants came with the 
early wave of Puritans to Roxbury, Mass., in 
1637, in the personpf Robert Williams, the grand- 
father of Rev. John Williams of Deerfield, who 
became the g"reat g-randf ather of Eleazer Williams. 

One writer has said that "The history of this 
Williams family in America embraces a consider- 
able portion of the history of New Eng-land, if 
not of the history of the United States. " 

Robert's son, Samuel, had a son Rev. John 
Williams, who with his family were all killed or 
taken prisoners at the Deerfield massacre. All 
who survived their captivity returned except 
Eunice. When taken captive she was but eight 
years old, but preferred to remain with her Mo- 
hawk captors, and married one of these savages. 
Their home was at Caughnawaga, ten miles above 
Montreal on the St. Lawrence river, north of New 
York State. Her savage husband's name was 
Amrusus. Their daughter Sarah, w^as married to 
an Indian, whose son Tehoragwanegen, alias 
Thomas Williams, it is claimed was the father of 
Eleazer Williams. In his younger days he did 
live with this Indian, and supposed him to be his 
father. 

Eunice Williams was descended from four puri- 
tan ministers, and her two brothers were likewise 
ministers. I believe that it has been stated that 
Robert Williams of Roxbury, was the ancester of 
twenty-three ministers of the gospel, not includ- 

146 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

ing Eleazer Williams, thoug-h in his life long- de- 
votion to his savag-e wards as missionary and 
teacher, and the conversion of one whole tribe, 
he certainly has as much to his credit in the book 
of g-ood deeds as many other men, whose lot has 
been cast in happier times and more pleasant 
fields. 

Therefore if it is true that Rev. Eleazer Wil- 
liams the missionary to the Oneida, had a Mo- 
hawk mother and father, and g-randmother and 
grandfather and great grandfather, whose wife 
was Eunice Williams, he had less white blood 
than his life and features would indicate, and yet 
enough to make him the descendant of most illus- 
trious ancestry. The reputed Indian father and 
mother of Eleazer Williams, resided at Sault St. 
Louis in Canada, on the St. Lawrence river, ten 
miles above Montreal. He died there in his nine- 
tieth year, September 10, 1848, having resided 
after the war of 1812 a number of years at St. 
Regis Indian Reservation in New York. The 
wife of Thomas Williams was Mary Ann Rice. 
They were married January 7, 1779. She died 
May 1, 1856, seventy-seven years after her mar- 
riage, and nearly a centenarian. They were both 
ardent Catholics. They were both apparently 
full blooded Indians, and spoke no language but 
Mohawk. 

The settlement which the French called Sault 
St. Louis but in Iroquois, is Caughnawaga, situ- 

147 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

ated ten miles above Montreal, on the south side 
of the St. Lawrence. The inhabitants were mostly 
Mohawks with a few Oneidas, who had been con- 
verted by Jesuit missionaries to Catholicism and 
to the French interest, and had been induced from 
time to time to abandon their ancient seats in 
New York for homes near Montreal, where they 
would be under the wing" of the Church. Thus 
dwelling they served both as a bulwark ag-ainst 
the English, and as allies of the French in war 
and in marauding, while they enriched themselves 
by lucrative contraband trade between the lower 
Hudson and the St. Lawrence. At about the per- 
iod of the Deerfield massacre, (1704) two-thirds of 
the New York Mohawks had gone to Caughna- 
waga; so that about three hundred and fifty pray- 
ing Indians were then living there. In 1750 the 
entire population may have been one thousand 
souls. But notwithstanding the religious influ- 
ences, these mission Indians still continued sav- 
ages. ''Although baptized, and wearing the cru- 
cifix, they yet hung their wigwams with scalps, 
yet wielded their tomahawks against feeble 
women and innocent children." ''Remnants of 
the Caughnawaga mission still exists and travel- 
ers down the St. Lawrence peer curiously at 
naked pappooses sporting about the shore and at 
tawny braves stalking aimlessly under the arch- 
ing trees." 

It had two, long, narrow streets separating low, 

148 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

dingy frame or log: huts, and a few of rude, dark 
stone masonry. A Roman Catholic stone church 
stands in the middle of the street. It was a 
lonely place with its shabby huts, dirty streets, 
crowds of naked little Indian children. Such is 
the reputed place of birth of Eleazer Williams, to 
those who do not believe he was the Lost King. 
But it is as easy or as difficult to prove one as the 
other. His reputed father was a Mohawk brave, 
and chief who could speak only their language, 
and conversed with the whites through an inter- 
preter. He lived the roving life of the Indian in 
the wigwam, or rolled in his blanket, he slept on 
the side hills along the banks of Lake George. 
His reputed mother was a squaw, who could not 
speak a word of any language but Mohawk. 
Their parents had been Mohawk bucks and 
squaws before them, and the grandfather of this 
Thomas was a Mohawk buck. If descended 
through this uncertain unrecorded genealogy, 
and the great grandmother of Eleazer, was the 
unfortunate Eunace Williams, then this waif of 
the marriage bed of the forest wigwam, had but 
one-eighth white blood in his veins. It is true he 
did for many years call these Indians his parents. 
This was natural, as disclosed by the story of his 
life. But that they were his parents, has never 
been proven. Even the place and date of his 
birth they have been unable to show. Nor is there 
any reason why these Indians have the name of 

149 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Williams, as they all possess unpronouncable 
Indian names. 

Eleazer Williams was early led to believe he 
was born at Caug-hnawaga. His reputed mother 
made an affidavit that he was born there two 
years after she had said he was born on the banks 
of Lake George, she thought in June. No one 
knows the year, though Lyman C. Draper, con- 
cluded that it was 1790, while John Y. Smith con- 
cluded it was 1792, and his reputed father once 
said in January, 1800, that in May he would be 
twelve years old; and General Albert E. Ellis 
writes that in 1800 Eleazer was fourteen years of 
age, which would make his birth date 1796. ^ 

When the mission register was examined and 
fouDd to contain the names and dates of birth of 
eleven children of these reputed Indian parents 
of Rev. Eleazer Williams, and no name was dis- 
covered there which could be tortured into La- 
zarre or Eleazer, then some time between births 
must be found in which to bring forth Eleazer. 
There is printed in Hanson's, ''The Lost Prince," 
a transcription from the register of the mission 
at Caughnawaga authenticated by Father Francis 
Marcoux, priest at the mission in 1853, when the 
transcription was made, showing the names and 
dates of births of the eleven children of Thomas 
and Mary there registered. 

This list is as follows; 



150 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 



* 'EXTRACTS DES REGISTRES DE LA MISSOIN DU 
SAULT ST. LOUIS." 

"1779, du 7 Janvier, Thomas Tehora Kwanekeu 
a espouse Marie Anne, fille de Haronhumanen. 
Leurs enfants sont 

"Jean Baptiste ne le 7 sept 1780 

Catharine nee le 4 sept 1781 

Thomas ne le 28 avr 1786 

Louise nee le 18 mai. : 1791 

Jeanne Baptiste 00" 21 avr :..1793 

Pierre 25 aout nee le 1795 

Pierre " 4 sept 1796 

Anne nee le 30 janv 1799 

Dorothee " 2 aout 1801 

Charles ne 8 sept 1804 

Jervais " 22 juil 1807 

Marcoux, Prete." 
In the second affidavit of Mary Ann Williams, 
she seeks to name her children as "Peter, Catha- 
Vine, Ignatuis, Thomas (Eleazer adopted), Louisa, 
Charles and Jarvis." This statement was made 
in 1853, and Dr. Williams who visited her in 1851, 
said: "The mother of Eleazer was very old, pos- 
sibly one hundred. She was what mig-ht be called 
feeble minded." I cannot make the names of her 
children as she gives them agree with the church 
register, and am content to leave the task with 
those who seem too anxious to fill in the "gaps," 

151 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

for I agree with Eleazer himself, who once said 
while a guest of Dr. S. Williams in 1851: *'If I 
am a Williams I am so old, but if I am the Dau- 
phin, I am older." There is no reason why he 
was not born in 1785, the birthdate of the Dau- 
phin. No one has yet furnished one single incon- 
testable fact to prove Eleazer of Indian birth, 
though the law would presume him to be their 
child, in the absence of the evidence to the con- 
trary, because of his long life as their admitted off- 
spring. It may not be out of place here to state 
that in 1852, all the children of Mary Ann Wil- 
liams were dead, and that all died of consumption. 



«^|!• 



162 



XIII 

THE LITTLE KING RECOVERS HEALTH AND MIND, 
AMONG THE ADIRONDAC HILLS, ALONG THE SYL- 
VAN BANKS OF BEAUTIFUL LAKE GEORGE. ''HE 
WHO DIED A KING IS REGENERATED A BEGGAR." 

IN 1804 after the battle of Plattsburg, Mr. Wil- 
liams and his reputed father went to Albany," 
says Rev. Eleazer Williams in conversation 
repeated by Rev. Dr. Hanson, *'at the request of 
Governor Tompkins, and while in the city, 
Thomas Williams said, that he had been invited 
by his old friends, Jacob Vanderheyden, a well 
known Indian trader, to spend the evening-, and 
to bring- his son with him. In the midst of good 
cheer over their bottle of brandy, a conversation 
took place in Eleazer's hearing to this effect. 
They spoke of Vanderheyden having- encamped 
at Caldwell's, on Lake George, in October, 1795, 
and remained there for several days waiting- for 
the Indians to come down from the north to pur- 
chase furs, and supply them with goods during 
their winter hunts, and that while he was there, 
a French gentleman came among them, having 
a French boy with him about ten years old, and 
after staying sometime he departed, leaving the 
boy behind him. The boy was deranged at the 
time, spoke French and German, and was well 

153 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

dressed. The first time that Vanderheydea saw 
him was in the company of Thomas Williams, 
who brought him to his camp, when the boy ran 
boisterously about the store, and upset his goods. 
After speaking of these circumstances, Vander- 
heyden said, "Thomas, did I not tell you then he 
was not your boy?" The reply was, "You have 
said so many times — if you will have it so let it 
be so.'' He also asked "Thomas, what has be- 
come of that Frenchman?" But Williams does 
not remember what answer was given." 

"I then asked Mr. Williams if he had been ac- 
quainted with Le Ray de Chaumont, during his 
residence in St Lawrence County, and if anything 
had ever occurred between them, which would 
tend to prove that he had a knowledge of the 
Dauphin being in this country. He replied, that 
he had only, to the best of his recollections, seen 
Le Ray once, in the month of January or Febru- 
ary, 1819 or 1820, when a conversation to this 
effect occurred between them. Williams was at 
that time a resident at Oneida, among the In- 
dians. In this place there also lived a Colonel 
de Ferrier, formerly an officer of the body guard 
of Louis XVI, who had fled from France during the 
Revolution, and married an Indian woman who is 
still living. Le Ray inquired of Williams con- 
cerning the health and welfare of De Ferrier; 
adding that he had been a great sufferer in the 
royal cause ; th at the King 's family h ad been widely 

154 




Eleazer Williams, 1852 

From a Daguerreotype in Putnams with the paper "Have we a Bourbon 

among us?" Gold cross of St. Louis on the sash left with the child 

king when given over to the Indians. 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

scattered; but that, notwithstanding- all the mis- 
fortunes of De Ferrier, he was no greater sufferer 
than a member of the royal family, whom both 
Colonel de Ferrier and he believed to be in this 
country." 

"On questioning him concerning the French- 
man, who is said to have visited him in child- 
hood, Mr. Williams said, in effect as follows: 
'That after the restoration of his reason, about 
the year 1799, his reputed father went from 
Caughnawaga, as usual, with his family in the 
month of September, to hunt in the vicinity of 
Lake George. While encamping on the shores 
of the lake, with other Indian families, two 
strange gentlemen came to visit Thomas Will- 
iams, one of whom had every indication of being a 
Frenchman, from his dress, manners, and lan- 
guage; for he remembers understanding a few 
words, sufficient to knowthathe spoke in French. 
He had on a ruffled shirt and his hair was powder- 
ed, and bore to him a very splendid appearance. 
When the gentlemen first came in sight, Williams 
and the other boys of the family were sporting 
on the lake, in a little wooden canoe, and saw 
them in company with Thomas Williams take 
their seats on a log, at a little distance from the 
wigwam. As their curiosity was excited, to know 
who these strangers were, they left their canoe 
and strolled slowly to the encampment when 
Thomas Williams called out, "Eleazer, this 

165 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

friend of yours wishes to speak with you." As 
he approached, one of the gentlemen rose and 
went off to another Indian encampment; but the 
other one, who appeared to be a Frenchman, ad- 
vanced several steps to meet him, embraced him 
most tenderly, and when he again sat down on 
the log made the boy stand between his legs. In 
the meantime he shed abundance of tears; said, 
"Pauvre garcon, " and continued to embrace him. 
Thomas Williams was soon after called to the 
wigwam, and Eleazer and the Frenchman were 
left alone. The latter continued to kiss him and 
weep, and spoke a great deal, seeming very anx- 
ious that he should understand what was said, 
which he was unable to do. When Thomas Will- 
iams returned to them, he asked Eleazer whether 
he understood what the gentlemen said to him, 
and he replied, "No." They then both left him, 
and walked off in the direction in which the other 
gentleman had gone; who, though he cannot 
speak certainly, yet on comparing his other re- 
collections with those of this time, he is of the 
opinion was Thomas Becker, the Indian interpre- 
ter. The gentleman came the next day to the 
wigwam, and the Frenchman remained several 
hours. Thomas Williams took him out in a ca- 
noe on the lake, and the last which Mr. Williams 
remembers was their all sitting together on the 
log, when the Frenchman took hold of his bare 
feet and dusty legs, and examined his knees and 

156 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

ankles closely. Ag-ain the Frenchman shed tears, 
but young Eleazer was quite indifferent, not 
knowing- what to make of it. Before the g-entle- 
man left, he gave him a piece of gold. After a 
few days, Thomas Williams, contrary to his us- 
ual custom, returned to Caughnawaga instead of 
remaining for his winter hunt at Lake George. 
The cause of this visit he can only conjecture, 
but thinks it probable, that after the restoration 
of his mind, Thomas Williams had informed Bel- 
anger of the fact, and that he came to make ar- 
rangements respecting his education, Shortly 
after this incident, while the family of Thomas 
Williams were at Caughnawaga, Nathaniel Ely, 
of Long Meadows, at the request of some of the 
members of the European branches of the Will- 
iams family, asked Thomas to let him have some 
of his boys for education. ' ' 

''When the child was brought over from Europe 
and left with Thomas Williams in the neighbor- 
hood of Albany in Nov., 1795, by the agent, who- 
ever he was, for so far I regard from the informa- 
tion I have recently obtained, to be exceedingly 
probable, two boxes of clothing and other things 
by which he could be hereafter identified, were 
left with him. All this, and what follows, the 
old Indian woman has confessed. One of these 
boxes has been carried off by a daughter of 
Thomas Williams, and cannot now be recovered. 
The other there is every reason to suppose is still 

157 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

in Montreal; but efforts are made in certain 
quarters to conceal it. In this box were three 
coins or medals, one of gold, one of silver and 
one of copper, fac-similes of each other, being* 
the medals struck at the coronation of Louis 
XVI, and Marie Antoinette. The gold and sil- 
ver medals being of value, were sold by the In- 
dians in Montreal. The copper one was re- 
tained and is now in my possession. The gold 
medal has also been seen in the possession of a 
Komish Bishop at Montreal or Quebec. The prob- 
ability that these traces of the Dauphin are to 
be found in Montreal is increased by the proxim- 
ity of Caughnawaga to that city." 

"Have you any memory of what happened in 
Paris, or of your voyage to this country?" 

"Therein," he replied, "lies the mystery of my 
life. I know nothing about my infancy. Every- 
thing that occurred to me is blotted out, entirely 
erased, irrevocably gone. My mind is a blank 
until thirteen or fourteen years of age. You 
must imagine a child who, as far as he knows 
anything, was an idiot, destitute even of con- 
sciousness. He was bathing on Lake George, 
among a group of Indian boys. He clambered 
with the fearlessness of idocy to the top of a high 
rock. He plunged down head foremost into the 
water. He was taken up insensible, and laid in 
an Indian hut. He was brought to life. There 
was the blue sky, there were the mountains, 

158 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

there were the waters. That was the first I knew 
of life." 

''As it is important to compare the statements 
of personal feelings, given to different persons 
by Mr. Williams, I may mention here that a gen- 
tleman of the bar, of high standing, whose opin- 
ions I shall frequently refer to, recently said to 
me. ' 'I must do him the justice of saying, that 
he never pretended to know anything personally 
of what occurred in his childhood; but he said, 
however, that after the plunge in Lake George, 
his mind seemed to recover its tone and sound- 
ness, and a good many images of things came 
back, but without any possibility of giving them 
name and place." "He then told me an incident 
of startling and dramatic interest. A gentleman 
of distinction, on his recent return from Europe, 
in an interview with Mr. Williams, threw some 
lithographs and engravings upon the table, at 
the sight of one of which and without seeing the 
name, Williams was greatly excited and cried 
out, 'Good God! I know that face. It has 
haunted me through life, ' or words to that effect. 
On examination it proved to be the portrait of 
Simon, the jailor of the Dauphin." 

"The next link in the evidence is yet more sin- 
gular. A French gentleman hearing my story, 
brought a printed account of the captivity of the 
Dauphin, and read me a note in which it was 
stated, that Simon the jailor having become in- 

159 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

censed with the Prince for some childish offence, 
took a towel which was hanging on a nail, and in 
snatching- it hastily drew out the nail with it, 
and inflicted two blows upon his face, one over 
the left eye, and the other on the right side of 
the nose. And now, said he, let me look at your 
face. When he did so, and saw the scar on the 
spots indicated in the memoirs he exclaimed; 
'Mon Dieu, what proof do I want more!' 

It is possible for the brain diseased by misuses 
of the body to recover its normal condition by a 
shock. Many instances of this are reported, and 
one often reads them in the daily press. 

Some have supposed that the outdoor and wig- 
wam life of the wilderness in the bracing climate 
of northern New York, would have been a severe 
blow to the little King in his weak condition 
when saved from the Temple; but this was the 
very place to take him to save his life. Fresh 
air, out of doors, coarse but wholesome food, the 
smell of the wild flowers that mantled the hills, 
fishing, hunting and the chase, freedom, all that 
builds up the frame, revives the nerves, made him 
a man again, and saved his life. This very lo- 
cality where the Prince was left among the In- 
dians is a celebrated resort for invalids and con- 
sumptives. 



160 



XIV. 

THOSE LONG MEADOW DAYS 

HAPPILY unconscious of the throne which 
lay in the wreck and chaoe of the Revolu- 
tion across the Atlantic, the wild boy of 
the woods, "who died a prince, was reg"enerated 
a beg"g-er," barefooted, hatless and coatless, 
rang-ed the hills, chased the deer through the 
openings, took trout from the wild mountain 
streams, or swiftly sped his canoe across the 
lake, the happiest King who ever breathed the 
air of freedom. He heard only the Mohawk 
tongue, and played with equally ragged and 
hungry boys like himself, who shivered in the 
long, bleak winter, or shouted with joy in the 
hazy Indian summer along the valley of the St. 
Regis river. Thus he disported, gaining health 
and strength for a number of years. 

The Indian Thomas was on a visit to Long 
Meadow four miles below Springfield, Massachu- 
setts, in the winter of 1796-7, to Deacon Nathan- 
iel Ely, Jr., whose wife was a descendant of the 
Williams family, and who after a long sickness 
had taken a vow to devote his life to good works. 
Deacon Ely proposed to Thomas that he send one 
of his boys to them at Long Meadow to attend 
school. Though the proposition seemed to be 
favorably received, such things did not appeal to 

161 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

the Indian Thomas, and nothing came of it. A 
neighbor of Deacon Ely traveling in Canada two 
years later, was given in December, 1799, a letter 
to Thomas, conveying an urgent request to send 
two of his boys to be educated. When this let- 
ter arrived at the wigwam at Caughnawaga, Dr. 
Hanson says: "Eleazer was lying in bed in the 
same room with his supposed parents, and as 
they imagined asleep. The Indian strongly 
urged a compliance with the request, but his 
squaw objected to let any of the children go for 
an education among heretics, lest they should 
peril their souls. But when he persisted in the 
demand, she said, 'if you will do it, you may 
send away this strange boy; means have been put 
into your hands for his education, but John, I 
cannot part with' ". Her willingness to sacrifice 
him, and the general tenor of the conversation, 
excited suspicions in his mind as to belonging to 
their family, but they soon passed away. It was 
decided that both he and John should go; and 
January 23, 1800, the Indian Thomas, came 
marching over the snows into Long Meadow, fol- 
lowed by Eleazer, and his son, John, dressed in 
buckskin and moccasins, where he left them to 
live in the family of Deacon Ely and attend the 
New England school of a century past. Eleazer 
was then fifteen, and John was twenty years of 
age, or seven, as there were two of that name. 
There were in this humble school other boys, but 

162 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

of Puritan families and among them, Mr. Colton, 
who thirty-three years afterward in his book, 
"Tour of the American Lakes," remembered the 
wild untamed antics of these sprigs of the wigwam 
and wild wood in these words: "From the wild- 
ness of their nature and habits it was necessary 
for the master to humor their eccentricities until 
they might gradually accomodate themselves to 
discipline; and but for the benevolent object in 
view, and the good anticipated it was no small 
sacrifice to endure the disorder which their man- 
ners at first created. Unused to restraint and 
amazed at the orderly scenes around them, they 
would suddenly jump and cry 'Umph'! or some 
other characteristic and guttural exclamation, 
and then perhaps spring across the room and 
make a true Indian assault upon a child on whom 
they had fixed their eyes, to his no small affright 
and consternation; or else dart out of the house 
and take to their heels in such a direction as their 
whims might incline them. Confinement they 
could ill endure at first; and so long as they did 
nothing but create disorder (and that they did 
very effectually) they were indulged until by de- 
grees they became used to discipline and began 
to learn. Their first attempts by imitation to 
enunciate the letters of the Roman alphabet were 
quite amusing, so difficult was it to form their 
tongues and other organs to the proper shapes. 
If the children of the school laughed (as there 

163 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

was some apology for doing*) these boys would 
sometimes cast a contemptuous roll of the eye 
over the little assembly and then leaving an 
**Umph!" behind them would dart out of the 
house in resentment. " 

The patience and good judgment of the earnest 
Deacon Ely assisted by the example at his home, 
slowly tamed the young men. In 1802, a revival 
swept over Long Meadow which effected Eleazer 
and he is supposed to have joined the church at 
this time. 

Eleazer clung to his studies and made remark- 
able progress. Deacon Ely kept a diary or 
journal of events, and doubtless taught this to 
Eleazer, as he seems to have made it a practice 
all his life to record almost daily events that 
came within his life or under his notice. Prom 
the swift manner in which he developed his mind 
at the school of Deacon Ely, one would suppose 
he must have had some teaching at the French 
mission school at Caughnawaga. His diary be- 
ginning two years after he came to this school, 
shows almost unheard of progress, not only in his 
study, but his piety. His diary at this time, shows 
too much advance for only two years at school, 
though his expression is still tangled or mis- 
placed, as illustrated by this quotation from the 
entry of December 9, 1802: "God is once more 
pleased to send our father. He came today about 
sundown, and brought us news that my sister is 

164 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

sick. God be praised. " Mr. Storrs explains this 
visit of Thomas. That in the winter of 1803 
Thomas and his wife came to Long Meadow, to 
carry one or both of the boys home on pain of 
excommunication by the priest. John therefore 
returned to Caughnawaga, but after a year came 
back and remained four years longer. The diary 
of Deacon Ely records, that during these days, 
Eleazer was much subdued by religious influences. 
At the time he came to this school, he was youth- 
ful in appearance, as well as action, for his school- 
mate Mr. Calvin Colton supposed him to be but 
ten years of age, and Mr. Hale with whose father 
Eleazer was a pupil at Yv est Hampton says when 
h e first saw him in 1800 h e was but ten years of age. 
Governor Williams of Vermont, who knew Eleaz- 
er, supposed he was born in 1790, whereas he was 
born five years before. Mr. Ely records in his 
diary that he was "19 years of age," and in 1802 
that he was 15 years of age. We suppose his 
boyish appearance was due to his handsome 
countenance and his simple deportment. 

As the impression he made on those who knew 
him in these young days at Long Meadow is im- 
portant and interesting, we will let a number of 
these neighbors tell the story in their own lan- 
guage. 

Julia M. Jenkins of New York, a lady who 
knew him at Long Meadow, says , February 17, 
1853: "His total unlikeness in his personal ap- 

165 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

pearance as well as character and habits to his 
reputed brother, forbade at once, the supposition 
of one and the same orig-in. While the latter 
was truly an Indian, with long, black hair, his 
complexion and every feature corresponding" with 
his race, Eleazer had brown hair, hazel eyes, 
lig"ht complexion and European features." "A 
tinge of thoughtful sadness stole over him when 
interrogated with regard to his early history. 
He would say he could not remember much about 
it, and it gave him pain apparently, that he could 
not. The prevalent opinion in that vicinity was 
that he was a French boy, taken from his family 
at an early age." 

"We are assured by one of our schoolmates, 
who remembers their entrance into the village, in 
their Indian costume, that a distinction was at 
once perceived between Eleazer and John. John 
was evidently of Indian blood. He showed no 
fondness for study, always kept his bows and 
arrows hid away, and on any excuse or occasion 
would make use of them. Eleazer although en- 
tirely illiterate when he came there, soon became 
fond of his books. John learned little or nothing, 
and soon returned home. Eleazer made satis- 
factory progress and remained. His affable man- 
ners were such as to excite unusual attention in a 
quiet village, not much used to exagerations of 
the graces of life, so that he was always called a 
plausible boy. He was thought by his school- 

166 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 



mates somewhat baug-hty, despised the Indian 
games of his supposed brother, and yet was led 
by those who had learned his character without 
much difficulty. These peculiarities we have 
spoken of quite independently of any presump- 
tion that Mr. Williams was other than a son of 
Thomas Williams. The only considerations of 
importance which those who knew Mr. Williams 
at West Hampton can contribute to the inquiry 
respecting- his birth, is the fact that he showed 
none of the traits of the Indian race, and al- 
though spoken of as an Indian, was not really 
regarded as of Indian blood." (Boston Daily 
Advertiser, February 17, 1853). 

Declaration of Urania Smith, Port Washington, 
Ozaukee County. Wisconsin; 

'*I, Urania Smith, do hereby declare that my 
maiden name was Urania Stebbings; that I was 
born on March 22d, in the year 1786, in Long 
Meadow, Massachusetts; that I was deprived of 
my parents when young, and was brought up by 
Ethan Ely, of Long Meadow, Massachusetts, who 
was my uncle, and lived next door to Deacon 
Nathaniel Ely. In the beginning of the year 
1800, two boys were brought from Canada to 
Long Meadow, to receive an education, and lived 
with Nathaniel Ely, who had charge. They were 
called Eleazer or Lazau Williams, and John Wil- 
liams, and were represented as the descendants 
of the Eev. John Williams, who was captured by 

167 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

the Indians in the year 1704, at Deerfield. They 
were entirely unlike each other in complexion, 
appearance, form and disposition; John having- 
the look of an Indian, and Eleazer that of a Euro- 
pean. I distinctly remember that when the said 
Nathaniel Ely was remonstrated with for calling 
Eleazer and John brothers, as there was no simi- 
larity between them, he said there was something- 
about it which he would probably never reveal; 
that Eleazer Williams was born for a g-reat man, 
and that he intended to g-ive him an education to 
prepare him for the station. Eleazer was very 
rapid in his acquisitions of learning, and wrote 
at an early period. Much notice was taken of 
him by everybody, and Mr. Ely was fond of ex- 
hibiting him to strangers." 

"Sworn to and subscribed before me, October 
8, 1853, at Port Washington, Lafayette Forsley, 
J. P., Clerk Ozaukee District Court." 

"He was a fine handsome boy, " says Mrs. Dick- 
enson, "sprightly and fair in complexion, and my 
father frequently told him that, he looked more 
like a Frenchman than an Indian. The scars 
were always upon his face, from the earliest 
period of my recollection, and -one day, he came 
in heated with exercise, and the perspiration 
standing on his forehead; as he passed the mirror, 
his eyes fell upon the scars and turned quickly 
around and asked me if I had ever noticed them,_ 
and if I had any idea where he "got them? I 

168 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 



replied, I suppose in childhood;" upon which he 
added, there were painful thoug-hts connected 
with them in his mind, which he could not dwell 
upon. At this period of his life, thoug-h usually- 
happy, and frank in his disposition, he was, as the 
whole family remarked, frequently subject to fits 
of musing- and abstraction, as if endeavoring-^ to 
remember something-, and when questioned as to 
the reason of it, he said, that there were painful 
images before his mind of things in childhood, 
which he could not g-et rid of nor exactly under- 
stand. I saw an asserted brother of Mr. Williams, 
who was sent to Long Meadows for education. 
He was entirely unlike Mr. Williams in appear- 
ance, being quite thin, dark, and like an Indian, 
whereas Mr. Williams was always full and portly 
in person. ''Clarissa W. Dickenson." 

"February 13th, 1853." 

There is another important letter which I will 

here introduce, and which will tell its own tale: 

"46, Bank Street, New York, 

Dear Sir: September 7, 1853. 

"In reply to your inquiries respecting my 
acquaintance with the Rev. Eleazar Williams in 
early life, I beg to say that I was a schoolmate of 
his at Long Meadow. I am a descendant of the re- 
deemed captive, the Rev. John Williams, who was 
my great-great-grandfather. According to the 
best of my recollection, Eleazer was about six- 
teen years of age, when he came to the care of 

169 



PRINCE ORCREOLE 

Mr. Ely. There was no similarity whatever in 
appearance between him and any of his family, 
either his brother John, or his reputed father and 
mother, who I saw on their visit to Long- Meadow. 
Thomas Williams I saw frequently. Eleazer was 
a very studious boy — indeed, he seemed to do lit- 
tle but study; and I can well remember his 
remarkable proficiency in writing", and that the 
second winter after his coming- to Long- Meadow, 
he would say to me, 'Come, Cousin Mary, and 
hear my sermon,' when he would produce and 
read some MS. on religious subjects. There was 
something so remarkable in his character, attain- 
ments, and amiable and relig-ious disposition, 
that the highest attention was shown him by the 
most disting-uished persons, as he was not like 
other children, and was always in the company of 
gentlemen of literature and sobriety. 
* 'Very truly yours, 

Mary W. Jewett. 

From Mrs. Temple, daughter of Nathaniel Ely: 

"Dear Sir: 

''The efforts made by my dear departed father, 
deacon Nathaniel, to educate and qualify you for 
usefulness among your countrymen, as well as to 
prepare you for glory, honor and immortality, 
have given me so deep an interest in you, that I 
should feel pleasure in complying with any rea- 
sonable request of yours. I, therefore, state in 
writing, as you desired, that there was an entire 

170 




Eleazer Williams, 1852 

From a painting by Chevalier Fagnani a portrait painter in New York city, 
painted about 1852— (from lost Prince.) 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 



and striking- dissimilarity between yourself and 
your brother John, in the features of your face, 
your g-eneral appearance and also in your predi- 
lections and character. 

''Your early and sincere friend, 

Martha E. Temple. 
*'Rev. Eleazer Williams, 
''January 24, 1851." 
Among the Indians and at Long Meadow he 
was known as Lazare, often twisted by unfa- 
miliar spelling- of the French pronunciation into 
Lazo, Lazar, Lazau, Lezau, Leazer. Mrs. Cather- 
wood has doubled the "r" and some yank in 
Long Meadow, imag-ined he was named Eleazer. 
His mother calls him Lazare. Doubtless the true 
name given him was Lazare, after the Saint La- 
zare, which is an honorable name in France, be- 
ing- given to the Close St. Lazare in Paris; and 
Lazare Carnot bore the name. It is frequently 
met with in French and Italian history. It is de- 
rived from Lazarus, and adopted by an order for 
the assistance of lepers, introduced into France 
by Louis VII., in the twelfth century; while the 
name Eleazer is derived from the high priest, son 
of Aaron, and neither are similar names or cor- 
ruptions of each other. Mr. Draper is mistaken 
in supposing his name Eleazer points to a Will- 
iam 's relationship. Lazare is frequently met 
with as a name among the Oneida, in honor of 
Rev. Williams. The accent is on the first syllable. 

171 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

His close application to study impaired his 
health, and he was given an opportunity to trav- 
el. In 1805 he was taken to Boston by Deacon 
Ely and later in the year to Canada. While in 
Boston, Deacon Ely, who was a member of theLeg"- 
islature, boarded with an Irish Roman Catholic 
gentleman, where he took Eleazer to board while 
in Boston. Of this period Dr. Hanson relates an 
occurrence as told him by Eleazer. <'As Ely was 
a great admirer of the music in the Roman 
Church, they all went there. A few days after, 
the Irishman introduced Williams to Chevreuse, 
then only a priest, and rector of the church, as 
an Indian youth, who was receiving an educa- 
tion, mentioning his supposed descent from Will- 
iams, the captive; whereupon Chevreuse inquired 
whether there were many descendants of Europ- 
ean captives still among the Indians, and children 
of French Canadians adopted into Indian families. 
He replied there were. Chevreuse then asked if 
he had ever heard of a French boy, who had been 
brought from France, having been adopted by 
the Indians. The reply was "no. " "Now it was 
curious," said Williams," that he was making 
these inquiries of the very person of whom he 
was in search." 

The following year he went to study with Dr. 
Welch of Mansfield, Connecticut, where many 
descendants of Rev. John Williams resided. The 
next May found him at study in Hartford where 

172 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

he met President Dwight of Yale college, who 
records that he, "has a very good countenance, 
pleasing manner, good understanding, with 
scarcely a trace of Indian character." In No- 
vember he visited Dartmouth college, and took 
up his studies in the Academy connected with it, 
where he sustained a reputation for scholarship 
and Christian character. He remained here for 
sometime which led Parkman to say, he was "ed- 
ucated at Dartmouth. " Now at twenty-two, he 
was said to appear to be about twenty, and "a 
very pompous person, wore a tinsel badge or 
star on his left breast and styled himself Count 
de Lorraine," while he recorded of his fellow 
students at Hanover: "The young genltemen ap- 
pear to be scholars, but I perceive that there is 
something wanting in them to make them com- 
plete gentlemen. Modesty is the ornament of a 
person". Why he claimed to be Count de Lor- 
raine is not explained but I would suppose it had 
reference to the Lorraine ancestry of Marie An- 
toinette. He certainly had heard and seen many 
things to arouse his curiosity and direct his mind 
toward French history for an explanation of him- 
self. He became a student of Rev. Enoch Hale at 
West Hampton with whom he remained except at 
intervals when traveling until August, 1812, when 
the war with England commenced; but during 
much of this time he traveled. One of his jour- 
neys was at the request of the American board of 

173 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Missions, to his old home at Caug-hnawaga to as- 
certain the encouragement he might have to in- 
troduce a protestant mission among those Mo- 
hawks. It was during these years also that he 
met Bishop Hobart of New York, who was at- 
tracted by him and gave him much attention and 
Eleaser was strongly urged to join the Episcopal 
communion at this time. The Rev. Benjamin 
Moore, D. D., Bishop of New York, and Rev. Dr. 
Mountain of Montreal, were especially urgent 
that Eleazer should become a member of the Pro- 
testant Episcopal church, promising flattering 
things to complete his education and preparation 
for missionary work. Eleazer's education had 
been paid for by contribution from the Massa- 
chusetts Missionary Society, Hampshire Mission- 
ary Society and others, and the Massachusetts 
Legislature had voted him three hundred and 
fifty dollars as early as 1804. 

At this time Deacon Ely was dead, and the 
Congregational people who we suppose had been 
supporting him during his study, were embar- 
rased for funds to keep him. He went again to 
Caughnawaga on a similar mission. He was met 
this time by the Jesuits who proposed he should 
accept authority from their bishop as a teacher 
to the Indian tribes. The offer is said to have 
been so attractive that he was actually commis- 
sioned by the Jesuits as a teacher, and to have 
received from them a church library with prayer 

174 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

book and missal. That he had the books may be 
true, but General Ellis must be in error as to his 
entering the Catholic priesthood. 

Some criticisms having" been made, Mr. Storrs 
replies to them in 1811: ''I have heard it ob- 
jected to Eleazer that he appeared fickle, but 
who would rationally expect that an Indian 
would at once become steady? I have heard it 
said that he was assuming; this no one will think 
strange who considers how much he has been 
flattered and caressed by many of the first char- 
acters in New England." 

In March 1812, after having had no success as 
a protestant missionary among the Caughnawaga 
savages, he received a message from the Iroquois 
chiefs, requesting his attendance at a Council, 
they manifested their esteem by declaring him a 
chief of that nation. About the same time that 
the government sought his services in the war, 
the St. Regis Indians requested his advice on 
their course during the war. 

Eleazer had now, after thirteen years of study, 
so far perfected himself in the English language 
as to begin the work of authorship, and in the 
first month of 1813, when he was twenty-eight 
years of age, had prepared and published at Bur- 
lington, Vermont, '*A tract on man's primitive 
rectitude, his fall and his recovery through Jesus 
Christ." 

Over in New York at Plattsburg in the same 

175 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

year, he published, ''A spelling book in the lan- 
guage of the seven Iroquois nations." It is 
proper to observe that for an Indian, the publi- 
cation of two works after a recorded study of 
thirteen years is quite unusual. 



4? 



176 



XV. 



SCOUTING BETWEEN THE LINES. 

AT the request of the National g-overnment 
and the Northern Indian department of 
New York, he entered the service, in the 
war with England, as a confidential ag-ent or 
scout. "Much will depend upon your zeal and 
activity as an Indian chief in that section of the 
Country, which is the principal theatre of the 
war, " wrote the secretary of war. Eleazer Will- 
iams writes July 27, 1812: "I am sent for to pre- 
vent the Indians from taking- up the hatchet 
ag-ainst the Americans. I tremble! my situation 
is very critical, indeed. I hope God will direct 
-me what to do." His long- acquaintance with the 
tribes on the Canada border made him useful es- 
pecially as he could speak both languages. His 
patrons in Massachusetts were disappointed 
when they learned he had joined the army. He 
was invited to join General Brown, under good 
pay, to g-ather information through the border 
Indians, for the American General. He did in 
several instances render valuable assistance with 
important information. He was also actively en- 
g-ag-ed as a soldier in the ranks. "He received 
the commendation of his officers for zeal, bravery 
and fidelity." 

Plattsburg is located on the north bank of 
Saranac river in northern New York, at its en- 

177 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

trance into Cumberland Bay on Lake Champlain. 
In August 1814, 5,000 men were withdrawn from 
there, leaving- General Macomb in command at 
Plattsburg, with only 1,500, one of whom was 
Eleazer Williams. The British in Canada being 
strongly reinforced by veterans, who had served 
under Wellington, advanced in September, under 
Sir George Prevost at the head of 14,000 men. 
On the sixth the enemy arrived at Plattsburg. The 
Americans crossed the river and during four days 
withstood all attempts of the enemy to force a 
passage. On the 11th, after a naval battle of 
two hours, the British fleet was silenced and 
most of the vessels captured. The land battle 
continued all day, but the loss of their fleet 
caused the enemy to beat a hasty retreat, leav- 
ing behind a large quantity of military stores, 
and their sick and wounded. It was at this bat- 
tle, upwards of ^ve thousand British deserted. 
Eleazer Williams was wounded in the left side by 
a splinter. His father's nursing and Indian rem- 
edies restored him to health and strength after 
several weeks. A good many years after the 
event, he was refused a pension for his wound, or 
services, by Congress. In exhibiting this wound 
to Dr. S. W. Williams in later years to obtain his 
opinion for a pension, the doctor observed his 
unexposed skin was more the color of an Indian 
than a white man. About fifteen years after this 
General Louis Cass then Governor of Michigan, 

178 



PRINCE ORCREOLE 

writing to Hon. John H. Eaton, then secretary of 
war at Washington, made this glowing tribute to 
Eleazer Williams, that in the event of a vacancy 
in the Green Bay Indian Agency, "I beg leave to 
recommend the Rev. Eleazer Williams as a proper 
person to fill the vacancy. This gentleman is an 
Episcopal clergyman of very respectable stand- 
ing, and partly descended from the Iroquois In- 
dians. He rendered essential services to the 
United States during the late war, in which, he 
was actively engaged and badly wounded, the 
effects of which will probably continue during 
life. I understand that he enjoyed the confidence 
of our highest and most distinguished officers 
and bravely led a heavy column at the battle of 
Plattsburg. He is a gentleman of education and 
talents, and from his position and associations 
can render important services to the Government 
and the Indians". 



4? 



179 



XVI. 

THP: eloquent missionary to the ONEIDA. 

THE war, which had swept across his own 
home for two years, coming to a close, he 
followed in the wake of peace and again 
lived with his old Indian mother and father, at 
their new home in St. Regis. He could not re- 
main long here. In November he visited Oneida 
Castle and some Indians he had previously met. 
Believing these bands susceptible to Christian 
teaching and civilization, he determined to go 
among them. During the war he met Lieut. 
Governor Zachariah Taylor at Albany, and his 
rector Rev. Dr. Clowes, and the Rev. Butler of 
Troy, both of whom interested him in the Epis- 
copal church. At this place he renewed his ac- 
quaintance with Bishop Hobart. Gen. Taylor 
had recommended the Oneida Indians to ask 
Eleazer Williams to go to them. He now ap- 
proached Bishop Hobart on the subject. He 
went to New York and was confirmed by Bishop 
Hobart, May 21, 1815, at St. John's Episcopal 
Church, and prepared "a book of prayer in Iro- 
quois, which was published at Albany in 1816, and 
was called to the Oneida as a religious teacher, 
lay reader and catechist, March 23, 1816, taking 
with him a letter from Bishop Hobart. Here he 
remained for six years. His labors at Oneida 

180 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Castle were very successful. This Indian town 
was about twenty miles west of Utica, beautiful- 
ly located. Eleazer Williams lived in the old 
homestead of Skenandoah, the old head chief of 
the Oneidas, who died on the 11th of the same 
month, located at the famous old butternut orch- 
ard. 

He had very little furniture, but quite a li- 
brary, some very rare, choice books; a g'ood num- 
ber in French, and a set of Catholic missal, one 
volume fourteen inches wide and two feet high 
and very heavy, printed in different colors, the 
mass book complete in latin. He was very fond 
of books, though General Albert G. Ellis who 
appeared there as his companion in the fall of 
1819, says that his reading was mostly confined 
to narrative and history. 

He was of jovial temper, enjoyed life, and a 
good appetite. The book of prayer revised by 
him was an improvement of Brants which had 
been arranged twenty-five years before, and which 
used twenty English letters in writing the Mo- 
hawk, while Williams only used eleven letters — 
a, e, h, i, k, n, o, r, s, t, w. This simplified the 
orthography so much that an Indian child could 
be taught to read in a few lessons. He had the 
morning service printed, and introduced in his 
church services; and no English congregation 
ever. responded in their prayers more fully than 
did the Oneidas in theirs. By composing and 

181 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

having- published a small, '^spelling and rudi- 
mental book,'' he greatly facilitated the teachings 
of the young people to read Oneida or Mohawk. 
It was the knowledge of the Mohawk language 
and the captivating, forcible, elegant use he 
made of it that gave him such hold on the Onei- 
das and all Indians who heard him. There were 
fifteen hundred Indians living in huts, wigwams 
and otherwise about the town and country whose 
recovery from their pagan ways he had set for 
his task and few were better qualified. These 
were the descendants of the same tribes who had 
murdered missionaries and tortured the Jesuit fa- 
ther Jogues, by pulling the nails from his fingers, 
and holding his hand over a slow fire until it was 
destroyed. Their warriors had swept the Eries 
and Neuters entirely out of existence, and driv- 
ing the tribes before them had conquered the 
lands to the Mississippi river. The Jesuit 
dreaded them as a scourge, and Parkman has 
recorded that two hundred years of missionary 
work had not raised up a priest among the Iro- 
quois. When they rose against the Colonists 
during the Revolution, the Oneida remained neu- 
tral and thus they were saved from the ven- 
geance that swept over their brother tribes, when 
forty of their villages were put to the torch. 
The Oneida was one of the powerful tribes of the 
confederacy of the six nations of Mingoes, as 
styled by the English or Iroquois of the French. 

182 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Such were the descendants of untutored, war like 
savages among- whose huts Eleazer Williams ap- 
peared. These famed missionaries Cecum and 
Kirkland had been there before him. 

"Mr. Williams," says General Ellis, "in the 
Mohawk, was a born Orator. Perfect master of 
the language, he held his audience, whether in 
these levees, or in the church, perfectly en- 
chained. Till Williams came among them, they 
had heard the gospel only through the clouded 
vehicle of an interpreter and their missionary, 
Jenkins, a man of low order of intellect, obscured 
by bad habits, who presented only a dim view of 
the great subjects, and gave but a faint picture 
of the glorious gospel of good news to fallen 
men. Williams addressed them in the mother 
tongue, and with enthusiasm. They were soon 
captivated, and poor Jenkins only had empty 
benches." 

"Williams, besides being tolerably" versed in 
the Christian system and in theology, was thor- 
ough master of the Indian language, his mother 
tongue, besides being a natural orator and most 
graceful and powerful speaker, the sine qua non 
of persuasion and success with Indians." 

"He found at Oneida a nominal christian party, 
and the name only of a church under the patron- 
age of the Presbyterians, with Mr. Jenkins as 
missionary. Jenkins was weak, inefficient, 
without influence; and his cure partook of the 

183 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

like character; the numbers were small, and the 
congregation on the decline. Williams saw at a 
glance his vantage ground. He told the Onei- 
das, it was a mistake in that order of Christians 
to intrude themselves among Oneidas, and called 
to their recollection the fact, that two venerable 
missionaries of the London Missionary Society 
of the Church of England had many years ago 
planted the gospel among them." 

''That old Dr. Barclay and Dr. Ogilvie of that 
church, had been specially commissioned by the 
Great Head of the church, to baptize the Onei- 
das, and that he, Williams, had been sent by the 
same divine authority to remind them of the 
claims of that church, and to bring them back to 
their allegiance. Instant success attended these 
addresses. Many of the older Indians of both sexes 
remembered Dr. Barclay and Dr. Ogilvie, and 
confirmed the statements and claims of the young 
Catechist; the whole Christian party very soon 
forgot Jenkins, and hung on the teachings of 
Williams." But his views went further; four- 
fifths of the whole tribe were Pagans, and held 
Christianity in utter abhorrence; and the conver- 
sion of this part of the tribe now engaged his at-, 
tention. Assuming a tone of authority, and de- 
manding of them to listen to a message to them 
from the Great Spirit, he assembled them in the 
open air, and challenged them either to obey or 
refute the Gospel. In ten months the Pagan 

184 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

party made a formal renunciation of pag-anism 
and recog-nized Christianity as taught by the Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church as the true faith, and 
announced their determination, as a tribe, to re- 
ceive it and encourage its promulgation among 
the people. The following winter, the chief of 
this party, taking Williams and their interpreter, 
repaired to Albany, and their treated with the 
Governor of the State for a cession of a part of 
their reservation, for the express purpose of 
building a Protestant Episcopal Church, and pro- 
viding a small fund for the support of a minister. 
The church was built that year; a neat edifice, 
about thirty-six by fifty feet, with a small tower, 
tastefully painted, and otherwise fitted up in an 
appropriate manner for a place of worship. 
Williams entered it as minister, though not as 
yet ordained; and the worthy Bishop was called 
to consecreate it, and confirm about fifty com- 
municants." 

The eclat of this sudden success of the Gospel 
at Oneida, under the efforts of Mr. Williams, 
sped far and wide, and brought him suddenly in 
great notice, and to a dizzy height. 

It will be remembered that Eleazer Williams ap- 
peared at Oneida on March 23, 1816, to take up 
his work in this very unpromising field. In just 
ten months in the winter of January 25, 1817, the 
heathen and pagan tribes were converted, and 
appeared before the Governor of New York, at 

185 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Albany, and signed the renunciation of pag-an- 
ism, their heathen beliefs and practices, "have 
abandoned our idols and our sacrifices," "objura- 
tion of pag-anism and its rites", signed by eleven 
*'chiefs and principal men of that part of the 
Oneida nation of Indians," known as Pagan 
Party; and they treated with him for the cession 
of a portion of their lands for the building of a 
church, and providing for a minister and his sup- 
port. The church was built and Eleazer Williams 
mounted the pulpit in his robes as minister, 
though not yet ordained. The next year (Sep- 
tember 3, 1818) Bishop Hobart made the journey 
to Oneida Castle and confirmed a class, Ellis says 
of fifty, Wight and Hanson say eighty-nine, and 
Draper says five hundred. 

The labor of the missionary is among the no- 
blest callings of man, demanding self sacrifice 
incalculable, and beyond the understanding of 
any one outside the work itself. A volunteer 
missionary is worthy of all praise. Many of them 
labor among these heathen people and no impres- 
sion is made for generations. But here Eleazer 
Williams accomplished among these Oneida 
braves in one summer, the Christianization of a 
whole tribe; and it was sincere, it was successful. 
Those same savages are citizens and voters in 
New York and Wisconsin today. All the world 
has been dragged for some little item of abuse to 



186 




Rev. Eleazer Williams, 1850 

From a painting now in possession of George Williams in St. Louis, given to 

him by his mother Mrs. John L. Williams of Oshkosh— It was painted 

in Boston for Amos Lawrence about 1850 and given to 

John L. Williams about 1857. 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

heap on Rev. Eleazer Williams, but this one act 
of his, accomplished alone and unaided which 
shall endure for ever to the benefit, even to the 
last generation of those people, and the good of 
humanity, is a monument worthy of the best of 
men. 

He made visits to the surrounding- tribes of the 
Iroquois nation, and preached to them with great 
power and persuasive eloquence, assisted by 
Jasper Parish and Horatio Jones, they persuaded 
the Senecas whose chief was Red Jacket to estab- 
lish schools and other improvements among 
them, a large majority of whom had hitherto re- 
sisted any advance among them toward civiliza- 
tion. Most of this great work had been accom- 
plished within two years. 

It was in the summer of 1818, while on a visit 
to Montreal, that father Richards had told Rev. 
Williams of a conversation with the Abbe de 
Colonne at Three Rivers, intimating there was 
mystery in his history, saying, "you are, I sus- 
pect, of higher grade by blood, than the son of 
an Iroquois Chief." On returning to Caughna- 
waga, he found of the eleven children, whose 
birth was recorded in the mission church register, 
his was absent, which helped to raise in his mind, 
serious doubts of his parentage. 

While at Oneida Castle, Thomas Williams 
twice came over the wooded hills and through 
the valleys from St. Regis, to visit him. Gener- 

187 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

al Ellis who saw the chief on these visits says 
that many noticed their resemblance to each 
other. Eleazer Williams must have been a living 
composit picture, as it is variously asserted that 
he strong-ly resembled the Catholic Bourbons, 
the puritan Williams, and the last of the Mo- 
hawks. Rev. Williams had a wide reputation as 
one versed, in the story and history of the Indian 
and frontier experience. But his information 
was quite limited as he had not traveled far, 
seen much or interviewed more than a few mem- 
bers of a limited number of tribes. His mail was 
loaded with inquiries on these subjects. Letters 
came to him from New York, Boston, Hartford 
and other places, asking for information of mis- 
sionary labors which he could answer; but those 
were more difficult for him to answer to, which 
made inquiry of the travels of La Salle, Henne- 
pin, Marquette, early conflicts of the Indian with 
New England and kindred topics. Rev. Samuel 
Jarvis, D. D., Colonel Elihu Hoyt, Franklin B. 
Hough, and Mrs. Lydia Huntly, Sigourney, 
sought his information of Indian tradition and 
history. In trying to satisfy this demand for ab- 
original information he gave them some stories 
which might have taxed their credulity. He re- 
peated a tradition of "the Bell of St. Regis", 
which Mrs. Sigourney wove into a beautiful poem 
and Henry W. Longfellow found worthy of his 
notice. The story as learned by Eleazer Will- 

188 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

iams, and repeated to these inquiring- people, 
was that at the burning- of Deerfield, the savag"es 
tore the bell from the steeple of the little church 
where Rev. John Williams preached those devout 
sermons. Carrying- it away throug-h the forests 
and over the rivers, the clanging- of the hammer 
filled them with superstitious dread, and they 
buried it beside a wild mountain stream from 
whence years afterward they carried it in solemn 
procession to St. Regis and mounted it into the 
little steeple in their mission church where it still 
rings the angelus. Some one more correct to his- 
tory than charmed with romance has discovered 
that the old church of Deerfield had no bell, but 
we will ever be charmed by the sweet poem: 
*'Then down from the burning church they tore 

The Bell of tuneful sound, 
And on with their captive train they bore 
That wonderful thing to their native shore, 

The rude Canadian bound." 



4? 



189 



XVII. 

THE DREAM OF AN INDIAN EMPIRE IN THE FAR 
WEST. 

MANY generations agone the Apostle Eliot, 
had preached to the savages in Massa- 
chusetts and later Sampson Occom had 
been raised up a minister from the native wig- 
wam, to stir with his savage eloquence tempered 
by Christianity into a song of peace, the longing 
hearts of broken tribes who had gone out on 
their last war party. The Pequot and warriors 
of King Philip now lined up and received the 
communion. The forest savage became a mis- 
sion Indian and the remnants of those children of 
the wilderness who had greeted our forefathers in 
New England, gathered into a colony of brother- 
ly love from which they took the name of Broth- 
ers and their town Brothertown. Occom having 
gone among the Oneida where he had great in- 
fluence, long before Williams took up his work 
there, had just before the Revolutionary war ob- 
tained from his New York flock a deed of ten 
miles square of their lands in the Mohawk valley 
as a home for his Brothertown flock. Some of 
whom removed there at once, but all of them 
soon after the close of the war. Samuel Kirk- 
land, laboring among the Oneida, joined with 
Occom to establish a missionary school which 
was the founding of Hamilton College. 

190 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

The Muh he ka no ok or Husic Indians of Mass- 
achusetts had been the constant friends of the 
colonists and aided in the defense of the frontier 
from attack by Canada. The first white man to 
lay down in their wigwams and teach them a 
higher life was the elder John Sargeant. He re- 
moved them to Stockbridge where Jonathan 
Edwards preached to them. Soon as the Revolu- 
tion was at an end, these civilized tribes wishing 
to go farther from civilization and whiskey, were 
also invited by the Oneidas to occupy a portion 
of their lands beside those given to the Brother- 
towns, and thus it was that Oneidas, the Stock 
bridges and Broth ertowns were all located about 
the forest clad hills skirting the beautiful valley 
of the Mohawk river. 

Emigration was in the air. White men were 
moving westward. The Mohawk and Cayugus 
tribes of the Iroquois who had remained loyal to 
the King in the war had removed into hunting 
grounds given them in Canada. The population 
of whites constantly increased about the Indian 
lands. The New England Indians were ready for 
another migration. Some of the Munsees or 
Dela wares, had settled with the Miamis at "White 
River, in Indiana, and by July 3, 1809, extended 
a formal invitation for the Stockbridge and 
Brothertown Indians to join them. As early as 
1808, Thomas Jefferson, President of the United 
States had carefully guarded a grant to the 

191 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Stockbridge tribe on White River. Henry Aupau- 
mut their principal chief who had served in the 
colonial army against Burgoyne is named in the 
instrument as "Captain." Captain Hendrick 
Aupaumut was in the White River country from 
1810 and later. While there he joined the na- 
tional forces against Tecumseh and became an 
officer in the war of 1812. Losing his usefulness 
because of drunkenness, he was succeeded as chief 
in his tribe by his son Solomon Hendrick, who 
was a powerful advocate for emigration. By 
1817, two families had reached White River. The 
emigration began next year led by Deacon John 
Matoxen a Mohegan, educated by the Moravains 
in Pennsylvania, of whom Rev. Calvin Colton 
has said — ''Than whom a man of more exalted 
worth cannot be found upon earth. " They march 
away over lands, after first organizing a church, 
and resting on the Sabbath day, sang the songs 
David Brainard had translated in Mohegan for 
their fathers. Weary and footsore this pilgrim 
band of psalm singing ex-savages arrived upon 
the banks of the White River, to find that the 
government had purchased their lands and they 
had no home in all that broad unpeopled forest. 
Back there on the banks of the Mohawk, Solo- 
mon Hendrick, the young chief, "a man of more 
than ordinary energy and talent among the In- 
dians," says Albert G. Ellis, "regarding the lan- 
guishing condition of his people as a reproach to 

192 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

the former name and glory of the old Mo ke kun 
mucks, used all his eloquence to cause the young 
men to rise and make an effort to recover their 
name and character. That their condition was 
due to their small space of ground, and being 
surrounded and preyed upon by the whites, from 
whose pernicious contact they were losing their 
physical energy by drunkenness. Their only 
hope lay in moving westward, at such distance 
from the whites as to escape the grog shop and 
whiskey." Then resident missionary. Rev. John 
Sargeant, the younger, seconded the views of the 
eloquent young chief. Soon the whole tribe be- 
come anthisastic for removal. The American 
Board of Missions became interested and gave 
their influence and aid, through whose inspiration 
Rev. Dr. Jedediah Morse, the father of the in- 
ventor of telegraphy, became deeply interested. 
He counselled the Indians that some one should 
go at once to the western tribes, to select the 
proper place and obtain the cession of land. Dr. 
Morse himself was selected. The War Depart- 
ment was requested to favor with money and in- 
fluence the scheme, and appointed Dr. Morse as 
commissioner to make a general tour of the 
northwestern tribes to form a better understand- 
ing between them and the government. He was 
during the summer of 1820 in the West, spending 
three weeks at Green Bay, where he preached the 
first protestant sermon in Wisconsin. On his re- 

193 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

turn he advised the Indians to move to the Green 
Bay reg-ion. ' 'You will never again be disturbed. 
The white man will never go there. He will nev- 
er desire these lands. They are too far off. " 

During this time John C. Calhoun, the eloquent 
statesman of South Carolina, was secretary of 
war and favored the project of removing the New 
York Indians to the Wisconsin region to form an 
Indian Territory of the north to reduce the number 
of possible free states. The state could not compel 
removal, though public sentiment was favorable. 
The Ogden Land Company owned the reversion- 
ary right in the New York Indian lands and were 
financially interested in their voluntary emigra- 
tion. The Christian people desired their removal 
from the influence of those who sold them whis- 
key. Among the earliest advocates of westward 
emigration was Eleazer Williams, who had just 
made his famed conquest of heathendom in the 
wilderness settlement of the Oneida. Some have 
supposed he originated this splendid means of 
preserving this race of red men. He gave it all 
the favor his eloquence and energy could com- 
mand. * 'Whether Mr. Williams borrowed the 
idea from Dr. Morse", says Mr. Ellis, ''the Mo 
he kun nucks or the Ogden Land Company or 
whether it was as he stoutly maintained, original 
in his own mind, certain it is, that some time in 
1818, he began to broach cautiously among his In- 
dian people a proposition of removing all the In- 

194 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

dians of that State, as well as many of those of 
Canada, and the Senecas at Sandusky, to the 
neighborhood of Green Bay, and there unite them 
in one grand confederacy of cantons, but all un- 
der one federal head; the government to be a 
mixture civil, military and ecclesiastic, the lat- 
ter to be pre-eminent. Grand imposing and fas- 
cinating in the extreme were the plans and de- 
signs of the new government, which he conceived 
and embodied, to lay before the Indian Chiefs. 
With some of the younger men, the thing took 
deeply; but with the other and more sober minded 
chiefs, it had no charm, and his late popularity so 
high, now descended more quickly than it had 
risen. Seeming to withdraw his proposition, he 
however adroitly plied his ingenuity with the 
younger men of note and talent in the tribe, and 
very soon succeeded in drawing into his plans 
some four or five of the young hereditary chiefs. 
Having secured this point among the Oneidas, he 
visited the other tribes of the Six Nations, and 
by holding out dazzling promises of future glory 
and aggrandizement, he enticed a few young men 
of each tribe to enter into his scheme. He next 
addressed the War Department, in imitation of 
the Stockbridge soliciting its countenance and 
assistance to enable a delegation of twenty from 
the several tribes of the Six Nations to visit the 
western tribes for the purpose of obtaining a 
cession of the country for a new home. The re- 

195 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

sponse of the department was favorable, having- 
doubtless been influenced by other parties mov- 
ing- for the same objects. 

**Thus, it is to be observed, that whether singu- 
lar or not, there was a combination of influences, 
dissimilar in motive but perfectly consonant in 
purpose, all operating at the same moment in 
urging a removal of the New York Indians to 
Green Bay. Each one of the parties claimed 
the eclat of originating the scheme; we incline to 
the belief, however, that they all, the Land Com- 
pany, the Mohe-kun-nucks and Mr. Williams, 
might, and probably did conceive at pretty near 
the same period of time, the idea of a new home 
for these Indians in the west," says Mr. Ellis. 
In the winter of 1819 and '20 the application of 
the Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Senecas, Onondagas, 
St. Regis and Stockbridge delegates (the latter 
acting independent and separate) was made to 
the War Department, for permission to visit the 
Indians in the neighborhood of Green Bay. The 
response of the Department was made by grant- 
ing them a copy of an order to the several Super- 
intendents of Indian affairs, and Commandants 
of military posts, to issue to the delegates, not 
exceeding twelve certain amounts of rations, 
blankets, powder, lead, Otc, and to facilitate 
their movements on their journey. The Superin- 
tendent of Indian i» if airs at Detroit was moreover 
ordered to make a requisition, on the naval ofiicer 

106 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

stationed at that place for a CJ. S. vessel, should 
one be at that post fit for service to be put at the 
disposal of the deleg"ates to take them across 
Lake Huron and Michig"an to Green Bay. Thus 
equipped, in July 1820, the delegation repaired 
to Detroit, and paid their respects to Gen. Cass. 
As Superintendent of Indian |Affairs, Gov. Cass 
received the party courteously; but it was soon 
apparent that as Governor of Michigan, the pro- 
ject of New York's quartering- her Indian tribes 
on his territory, would receive no special en- 
couragements, beyond the line of his duty, in 
obedience to the orders of his superiors. By him 
the delegates were furnished with blankets, 
powder, lead, rations, etc., but were informed 
that no government vessels were fit for the ser- 
vice. They were further informed, (and the news 
was astounding enough), that their proposed 
journey to Green Bay, if for the purpose of treating 
with the Menomonees, would be quite unneces- 
sary, as that tribe had a few days before ceded 
to the United States, Col. John Bowyer, Indian 
Agent at Green Bay, acting as commissioner, 
forty miles square of their land in the immediate 
vicinity of Fort Howard, the eye of their intended 
purchase, the key to the country they sought — 
this purchase by the United States frustrated all 
their plans, defeated their dearest hopes. Cha- 
grined, but not discouraged, the delegates re- 
traced their steps to New York." Dr. Morse was 

197 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

provoked on learning of the treaty, saying it was, 
"an attempt of wicked speculators to defraud 
them of valuable lands." He explained the situ- 
ation to President Monroe, who rejected the 
treaty, without even submitting it to the senate. 

The following spring, a new order was issued 
by the War Department to Indian agents and 
commandants of Military forts in favor of the 
delegates. There were fourteen delegates, three 
from the Stockbridges, one of whom was the 
eloquent Solomon Hendrick, four from the Oneida, 
one Onandago, two from the Tuscaroras, the emi- 
grant tribe who had joined the Iroquois from 
South Carolina, the descendants of those who 
had tomahawked John Lawson, three from the 
bold Senecas who admitted Red Jacket their 
chief, and the eloquent missionary Eleazer Wil- 
liams, who represented the St. Regis branch of 
the Mohawks. The Munsees had one delegate. 
In the party was a young Oneida chief, "a man of 
the best morals, and unshaken fidelity as well as 
of high standing in the tribe, Cornelius Bear, who 
had made up his mind to look with marked favor 
on the project of emigration, " says Mr. Ellis. It 
was Bear who induced Mr. Ellis to become a 
member of the party and thereby lead by an 
Oneida Indian he came to honor Wisconsin by a 
residence of over fifty years. 

Rev. Eleazer Williams, who led the party, car- 
ried a long letter from Bishop John Hobart, of 

198 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

New York, written to prepare the Oneida for 
removal, and urging- them: "My children, let 
Mr. Williams go and aid him all you can in the 
objects of the journey." Also a letter from Gov- 
ernor De Witt Clinton of New York State: "Mr. 
Eleazer Williams, etc., being on an exploring 
tour to the west, on business of importance, I do 
hereby recommend them to the protection, etc. , 
of all persons." (May 17, 1821). The removal 
was also favored by Mr. Monroe, President of 
the United States, John C. Calhoun, Secretary of 
War, Rev. Dr. Morse and many other eminent 
divines and statesmen. 

In the bright month of June the mission party 
crowded the stage coach, which wound over the 
hills and through the flower swept valleys of 
picturesque New York, fanned by breezes from 
Ontario and hearing for the first time the roar of 
Niagara, the delegates landed in the straggling 
frontier village of Buffalo, then containing a 
hundred wooden homes and no harbor. The new 
steamboat, "Walk in the Water," lay at Black 
Rock, two miles up the Niagara river, where 
these travelers took passage, to be propelled by 
her "powerful low pressure engines" to Detroit. 
But she could not stem the rapids to the lake and 
was towed out by nine yoke of oxen going along 
the beach at the end of six hundred feet of rope. 
This wonderful steamer was very long and slen- 
der, and the next fall proved unseaworthy by 

199 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

breaking- into pieces in a storm on Lake Erie. 
We wonder how much the world would have lost 
in little Kings, if the last of the Bourbons or 
Mohawks had found an early grave in the bottom 
of the lake. 

In three days they arrived at Detroit, ''built 
on a single street," a mile long, and Governor 
Cass dwelling" in a log house a mile out of town. 
He received the Williams delegates courteously, 
but informed them the French inhabitants of 
Green Bay were hostile to their intentions. Gov- 
ernor Cass added Hon. C. C. Trowbridg^e to the 
party as special agent for the g"overnment and 
very soon speeded them on their way by a pas- 
sag-e on the "Walk in the Water," which carried 
five companies of troops to the up country posts. 
In a few days they steamed into the far off white 
washed French hamlet of Green Bay, on the first 
steam boat to ride upon the charming Fox river. 

Eleazer Williams discovered that Mr. Bowyer 
the Indian ag^ent was dead and the Menomonee 
and Winnebago savag-es not having- been apprised 
of their coming must be hunted up and brought 
into council. By August 18, 1821 the date of the 
treaty, they had a g-rant for the New York In- 
dians (3f a strip of land four miles wide, crossing 
the Fox river at Little Chute, running each way 
across Wisconsin. But on the return of the dele- 
gation in the fall the tribes expressed opposition 
to emigration and consequently those who op- 

200 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 



posed it became bitter against Eleazer Williains, 
who however, believing- he was doing them a 
great good by seeking a home removed from the 
vices that surrounded them persisted in his en- 
deavors to obtain their consent to removal. 

The following year he led a larger delegation to 
Green Bay under the inspiration of the War De- 
partment, to which Governor Cass added the 
Rev. John Sargeant, the famous Congregational 
missionary of the Stockbridges. Having paid 
five hundred dollars the year before on the four 
mile strip they carried with them fifteen hundred 
dollars worth of goods to complete the purchase. 
The delegation arrived in the cool of September 
and took possession of the empty house formerly 
occupied by Agent Colonel Bowyer, near the 
fort. The native tribes were assembled, who 
came and camped on the surrounding plain along 
the river bank to the number of four thousand, 
an imposing spectacle, a wild jabbering throng of 
Wisconsin savages, of the Menomonee and Winne- 
bago natives. Solomon Hendrick made the open- 
ing talk. The goods in complete payment for the 
former session were sorted out and heaped into 
two equal piles, consisting of blankets, calicos, 
blue cloth, guns, powder, lead, shot, barrels of 
pork and flour, and a quantity of tobacco. *'Not 
a drop of liquor was seen." The next day the 
Williams party sought an increase of the grant of 
land, but were refused. "The Winnebagoes were 

201 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

preparing to leave," says Mr. Ellis, "for their 
fall hunt; but before starting they would treat 
their grandfathers to a dance. The whole tribe 
assembled in front of the house in a large circle, 
the dancers, and drummer, the master of cere- 
monies, in the center; first they gave the pipe 
dance, an amusing affair, a single one dancing at 
a time, the trick of which seemed to be to keep 
time with the drum, and especially to suspend 
action instantaneously with the cessation of the 
instrument, the dancer to remain in the exact atti- 
tude in which the cessation of the drum caught 
him; frequently the attitude was ridiculous in the 
extreme; and the maintaining it for a moment, 
till the drum commenced again, formed an excit- 
ing tableau. Next followed the begging dance, 
preceded by a speech of the .drummer, setting 
forth the extreme want of some of their very old, 
poor people, and asking charity in their behalf. 
The whole concluded with the war dance, a sight 
to test the nerves of the stoutest heart. The 
Winnebagoes at that time, fifty-four years ago, 
were in all their perfectfon of savage wildness; 
two thousand of them, men and women, young 
and old, were massed in a circle, standing fifty 
deep; the whites, army officers, in the inner ring, 
and the warrior dancers, drummer, and singers 
in the center. Twenty of their most stalwart 
young warriors took their places with not a thread 
of clothing save the breech cloth; but all painted 

202 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

in most gorgeous colors, and especially the faces 
with circles of black, white, red, green and blue 
around the eyes, giving the countenances expres- 
sions indescribably fierce and hideous, all armed 
with tomahawks, knives and spears. At first the 
dance was slow, to measured time of the drum 
and song; for there were a hundred singers, with 
the voice of the drummer, both male and female, 
the latter prevailing above the former. Soon 
they began to wax warm, the countenances as- 
sumed unearthly expressions of fierceness; their 
tread shook the solid earth, and their yells at the 
end of each cadence, rent the very heavens. None 
could endure the scene unmoved — unappalled. 
This tribe at that period, with their stalwart men, 
Amazonian women, and independent mein, ath- 
letic figures, and defiant bearing, can hardly be 
recognized as the same race, in the degraded 
Oneidas, who are now seen in our streets, whose 
abject mien, attenuated, shrunken forms, half 
starved, naked, destitute, miserable mendicants, 
half civilized though they be, furnish a painful 
commentary on our Indian civilization." 

"When the dances were concluded, a shaking of 
hands, with a grand "bosho," all round, the Win- 
nebagoes prepared to leave the ground; and in an 
hour, there was not a sign of one to be seen. The 
Menomonees lingered; they felt more kindly dis- 
posed towards the two grand-fathers; negotia- 
tions were soon renewed, resulting finally in a 

203 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

further treaty, granting the New York Indians a 
right in common with them, to all their country 
without reserve; the which treaty though no 
doubt made in good faith, became subsequently 
the source of almost endless trouble, terminating 
at last in confining the New York Indians to two 
small reserves; one for the Stockbridges, Munsees 
and Brothertowns, on the east shore of Lake 
Winnebago, of some eight by twelve miles; and 
the other twelve miles square on Duck Creek, for 
the Oneidas; and from this last, the whites are 
just now moving heaven and earth to dislodge the 
Indians." Most of the Stockbridge, Brother- 
towns, Munsees and several hundred Oneidas set- 
tled on these lands, but the majority of the Onei- 
das and most of the other Iroquois tribes never 
favored the movement. Dr. Morse expected to 
locate a school, by funds held in trust by Harvard 
and by Dartmouth, but did not succeed. "To the 
people who followed Eleazer Williams to what is 
now Wisconsin, belong the credit of building the 
first Protestant church in all this region," proba- 
bly at Little Kakalin, where Eleazer Williams 
built himself a log cabin home in the forest on 
the high red banks of the Fox river, upon a tract 
of five thousand acres of rich land. In the one 
great hope of those who favored the isolation of 
the Indian for his own good were greatly disap- 
pointed in the moral results, for Deacon John 
Metoxen in a speech before the council in 1830 

204 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

remarked: "You see brothers the white man is 
here, he has brought the strong- water to sell to 
our people." The hopes of the good John Sar- 
geant had not been realized, who had written 
when the people were moving: "Means will now 
be used to exclude spirituous liquor and white 
heathen from Green Bay. " 

Eleazer Williams should have full measure of 
praise in his laudable endeavor to better the con- 
dition of the Oneida, and that it was not wholly 
successful, was no fault of his. "Surely the his- 
torian, the patriot, and the philanthropist may 
well rejoice over the coming to Wisconsin of the 
New York Indians. Sometime, it may be, the 
story will be told in romance or in song," says 
Rev. John Nelson Davidson, A. M. 

There was a contest for years over the rights 
in this grant, and at the treaty of Little Butte des 
Morts Lake, held at the foot of the great prehis- 
toric mound, named "Hill of the Dead" on the 
western bank of the charming little lake in Fox 
river and opposite the present city of Menasha, 
during the Winnebago trouble in 1827, where over 
5,000 Indians held a council with Governor Lewis 
Cass, the Menomonee ceded to the Government 
all these lands. But the contest for the rights of 
the New York Indians continued until some years 
later. The unpopularity of the emigration among 
the Indians in New York and the open objection 
to it in Wisconsin, reflected on Rev. Eleazer Wil- 

205 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

liams, and made him unpopular, though he had a 
host of strong", influential friends. In all about 
eleven hundred Oneidas, and four hundred Stock- 
bridg^es and Brothertowns came to Wisconsin, a 
very large number considering the strong party 
opposing. 

The Oneida were finally located on a tract of 
forest land lying about five miles west of Depere 
and ten miles south-west of G-reen Bay, of 65,400 
acres in extent, watered by Duck Creek and its 
tributaries. Of this seven thousand acres have 
been cleared and brought under cultivation. 
Their station on the railway is Oneida, where is 
located the mission buildings, hospital and li- 
brary, and the government buildings and schools. 
The Oneida have their own native trained nurses 
and doctor and Deacon; also saw mill, black- 
smith shop and creamery. 

They have long since abandoned blankets and 
feathers and the tepee; live in log houses, and 
many of them in modern frame or brick homes, 
adorned with pictures, and they have books; 
while well kept lawns, gardens and shade trees 
are seen about their homes. They are self sup- 
porting, subsist by labor of their own hands, and 
the males have recently been granted the right 
of ballot in Wisconsin. During the civil war 
they sent 135 Union volunteer soldiers to the 
front. The population now numbers 2,000 souls, 
while often 1,000 of these are in the grand old 

206 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Hobart stone church at once. The picture shown 
is representative as it was taken with a camera 
with a larg-e number of others at the annual 
Oneida fair and the people did not pose or dress 
for the purpose. 

After Rev. Williams resigned as their Mission- 
ary in 1830, the Rev. Richard F. Cadle served 
them until 1836, when he was succeeded by the 
good Rev. Solomon Davis who labored among 
them for eleven years. Rev. F. R. Haff, his 
successor came in 1847 and remained until 1852. 
He is still a revered and beloved working rector 
in the Episcopal church, now located at Oshkosh. 
Then came Rev. Edward A. Goodnough whose 
splendid work of thirty-six years as their preacher 
and good angel only ended with his death. It 
was during this period that the change was made 
of reading the church service from the Mohawk 
Prayer Book to the English Prayer Book in the 
year 1870, about a half century after Rev. Wil- 
liams by his eloquence had persuaded them from 
their pagan rites. It was during this mission also 
that the great grand stone Hobart church was 
erected in 1886, from which Rev. Goodnough was 
buried. The Rev. Solomon S. Burleson then took 
up the work and remained to die in his labors and 
was buried on the Reservation. Then came Rev. 
F. W. Merrill the present missionary who is car- 
rying on the splendid work the great Protestant 
Episcopal Church has pursued so many years, 

207 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

begun by the noble missionary Rev. Eleazer Wil- 
liams under the inspiration and patronage of the 
Rt. Rev. Bishop John Henry Hobart of New York. 
The Rev. Cornelius Hill a former chief was the 
first Oneida Indian elevated to be Deacon and 
Interpreter. 



4» 



208 



XVIII. 

MARRIED TO ' 'THE BELLE OF THE FOX RIVER 
VALLEY." 

WHILE living in New England Mr. Williams 
had been disappointed in his courtship 
with some white maiden of an austere 
puritan home. 

When he came to Green Bay, he sought in mar- 
riage one of the beautiful daughters of the Grig- 
non family, which would have united the fugitive 
from the Temple to the descendants of Charles 
de Langlade, who had no peer in his defense of 
France in Canada. Over a century ago there 
came to Green Bay, almost the first smith, then a 
young mauj Joseph Jourdian, a French Canadian. 
He was an expert at the forge, an artist over 
the anvil; could fashion a razor or a sword. 
Life would have been hardly worth the effort 
on the distant frontier without the smithy, for 
there were no made up nails, farm utensils or 
other necessaries. The pipe tomahawks which 
he forged out of the tip of a gun barrel are cele- 
brated and bring fancy prices. The handsome 
smith married Margaret, the Creole daughter of 
Micheal Gravel, whose wife was a Menomonee 
princess. One son of Joseph Jourdain was well 
known to the writer. He was tall, large, hand- 
some and well liked by all who knew him. Joseph 

209 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Jourdain moved to Menasha in 1835, where he 
lived until his death in 1866, and was buried in 
Allouez cemetery, Green Bay. He was beloved 
by all his neig-hbors, as a kind-hearted, g-enerous 
man. Such was the parentage of beautiful Mary 
Magdalene Jourdain, who at fourteen years of 
ag'e, and a school girl, was informed one morning', 
March 3, 1823, by her sister; "that she need not 
go to school that day, as she was to be married 
to Priest Williams in the evening." There is a 
tradition that the handsome Creole, said by Mr. 
Draper to have been the "belle of the Fox River 
valley," was then betrothed to another, whom 
some have said was a military gentleman. Of 
the courtship we are not informed; but all ac- 
counts agree that as arranged by Mr. Williams, 
with the mother of Matilda, it was, "a marriage 
without courtship. " In the evening Mr. Albert 
G. Ellis drove Mr. Williams to the Jourdain resi- 
dence, located near the site of the upper bridge 
on the east side of the river, where he found Mr. 
Ebenezer Ohilds, the wag of the settlement, 
neither of whom knew what was to happen. 
Judge James Porlier, the cultured gentleman 
trader and Probate Judge, was sent for over the 
river where he resided in the home later called 
the Tank House. He drew up the contract in the 
French language, and performed the marriage 
service, as there was no minister in the settle- 
ment. 

210 



,,.«y%. 



ft 




;%w.t % 




Mrs. Mary Hobart Williams 

From an old print in possession ot Josephine Phillips on the homestead. 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Mr. Williams commissioned Mr. Ellis to repair 
to New York to solicit funds to establish a mis- 
sion school for the Indians, but he did not meet 
with success. Nor would the school have met 
with favor among the Oneidas, they were not 
quite up to that. The school afterward estab- 
lished by that good man, Rev. Cadle was run for 
a year with only one scholar. 

The immense tract of 4,800 acres held by Mr. 
Williams was laid out by Mr. Ellis in 1826. It 
was at Little Kaukalin, now known as Little 
Rapids, six miles above De Pere, and about four- 
teen miles by river above Green Bay. He resided 
in the log cabin on this place as long as he re- 
mained in the west, and his wife resided there 
until her death, and died there. The extent of 
the tract was much reduced, but the homestead is 
still occupied by the descendant of "Nan" who 
lived with the family many years. 

The most prominent man in Green Bay when 
Rev. Eleazer Williams went there, was Pierre A. 
Grignon, a grandson of Captain Charles de Lang- 
lade, the famous frontier scout, ranger and leader 
of the western savages in some of the most cele- 
brated battles in colonial history. Pierre was 
head of the family, the eldest of five brothers, 
one of whom was Augustin. The family owned 
nearly all the land about the village. Rev. 
Eleazer Williams soon made the acquaintance of 
Pierre, was well received by him, and invited to 

211 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

the abundant hospitalities of his home. He had 
the manners of a courtier, was intelligent, liberal 
and generous, of a tall commanding figure, and 
open countenance, which obtained the respect 
and good will of strangers. He became attached 
to Rev. Williams, and through his Indian hunters, 
kept his table well supplied with game, venison, 
fish and fowl. In the winter of 1823, he was very 
ill and sent for Rev. Williams, who on arrival at 
his home found him prostrated with lung fever, 
and a bad cough. The surgeon of the garrison 
had prescribed for him without relief. Rev. Will- 
iams read prayers, and offered the comforts of 
religion, which he repeated for several days, 
when Mr. Grignon was found to be very weak and 
failing rapidly, then he offered the consolation of 
the Catholic church for the dying, reading in 
French and Latin from the Roman missal. Mr. 
Grignon sensible of the kindness of Rev. Williams 
and wishing to do something for him, requested 
Rev. Williams to express a wish, when he re- 
minded him of his old saw mill, and requested to 
use it to make the lumber for his house. This 
was readily agreed to, and the use of the mill 
given him for one or two years. He died March 
3, 1823, and Rev. Eleazer Williams officiated at 
the funeral. 

Eleazer took his wife to New York in 1825, 
where her confirmation by Bishop Hobart in Trin- 
ity Church excited much interest, at the same 

212 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

time she was given the name Mary Hobart. The 
following" year Eleazer Williams was ordained as 
deacon by Bishop Hobart at Oneida in New York 
State. On this occasion there was present a 
great many clergymen, among whom were Rev. 
Dr. Anthon of St. Marks, and Rev. Treadway of 
Malone. The performance of the marriage cere- 
mony being a civil service at that time in Michi- 
gan territory, the civil division wherein was lo- 
cated Green Bay, Rev. Eleazer Williams was au- 
thorized to perform the service. He officiated as 
clergyman at the Bay, at different times for many 
years, though not at any stated and regular dates. 
One day there landed at the sleepy post one 
Colonel John McNeil, who woke up the whole 
garrison, and had them painting and brushing 
and polishing up the old barracks. After estab- 
lishing a school, he erected a building styled the 
assembly room for all manner of social gather- 
ings; "a. place to make people happy," he said. 
Finding the Rev. Eleazer Williams without a 
place for meetings, he was invited to occupy 
these rooms for religious services. Seats were 
provided, notices given, ''and the hall filled to 
its capacity" by the soldiers and officers in uni- 
form, and citizens. ''Thus a full congregation 
heard the word of truth from the missionary, and 
in this way the gospel was proclaimed on Colonel 
McNeil's invitation, at his Assembly room for the 
winter,*' says Mr. Ellis. 

213 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Rev. Williams had an annual salary for a num- 
ber of years of two hundred and fifty dollars 
and some years of one hundred and fifty dollars; 
whether it was paid or not, we do not know; but 
he was most of his life harassed by poverty, both 
at Oneida, Green Bay and St. Regis. At one 
time Mr. Whitney, the rich merchant at Green 
Bay had sold some of Rev. William's cattle for 
debt; though he gave him a good character to 
Bishop Kemper in 1834, who said in his diary, 
Whitney "has at least kind feelings, toward Wil- 
liams. ' ' The missionary seldom lives in affluence. 

Rev. Williams often traveled to Washington and 
New York state, to obtain from the Government 
the money justly due himself and his reputed 
father for his losses in the war. He also visited 
in Buffalo. Being in the east at Oneida in 1831, 
without funds or support, or money with which 
to travel home, he was given this letter by Bishop 
Onderdonk: 

Hudson, June 13, 1831. 

"The bearer, the Rev. Eleazer Williams, hav- 
ing by various expenditures, while in the spirit- 
ual service of his brethen, the aborigines of our 
country, and in consequence of a long and severe 
indisposition, became seriously embarrassed in 
his circumstances, is hereby respectfully and 
affectionately commended to the Christian bene- 
ficence of the members of our communion. I also 
introduce him to my clerical brethren generally, 

214 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

as a clergyman of respectable standing and at- 
tainments, and good, moral and religious charac- 
ter." "Benj. T. Onderdonk, 

"Bishop of the diocese of New York." 

Returning to St. Regis in 1835, he established 
a school and was appointed schoolmaster by 
Lord Aylraer, Governor General of Canada; but 
on being informed by Mr. James Hughes the In- 
dian agent, that he must instruct the Indian chil- 
dren, to listen to the Catholic priest in matters 
of religion, he resigned rather than infringe on 
"The liberty of conscience." 

By uncertain assistance he was enabled to con- 
tinue the school until the following summer. He 
then returned to his home in Wisconsin. 

With his son John Lawe Williams, a young man 
of sixteen, on June 22, 1841, he set out for New 
York state. June 29th they were at Oneida; from 
whence they journeyed to Hogansburg, and on 
the way to New York City, Rev. Williams was 
taken sick at Cohoes. They attended the cele- 
bration in August 1841, of the quarter century of 
the conversion of six hundred pagan Oneida In- 
dians to the Christian faith. This wonderful 
event had been celebrated with great pomp and 
ceremony every three years. As his eloquence 
and persuasive power had drawn them from their 
pagan ways, he was one of the chief men at these 
triennial gatherings. On this occasion, before the 
vast concourse of Indians and whites, he delivered 

215 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

two sermons on — ''The salvation of sinners," 



which have been published. 

October 1st, he was at Hogansburg-, a small 
village three miles from St. Regis, where he was 
waiting" the meeting" of Commissioners to hear 
the evidence and pass upon some claim to rights 
of the St. Regis Indians to certain g-overnment 
funds. He was in correspondence with Hon. 
William B. Ogden of New York, about some mat- 
ters of importance to himself, when in his reply, 
Mr. Ogden had informed Williams of the intended 
journey of the Prince de Joinville to Green Bay. 
Rev. Williams wishing" to see the Prince, cut 
short his stay at Hogansburg", and with his son, 
began his immediate return home. We are in- 
formed of this by his own letter sent back to the 
inn keeper soon after, in which he said — "It was 
my intention to remain in Hogansburg", till after 
the meeting of the commissioners, but I was hind- 
ered in consequence of the intimation of the 
Prince de Joinville of visiting Green Bay, and I 
was just in time to meet him on the route." 



•I? 



216 



XIX 

ALL THROUGH THE YEARS WHEREVER HE WENT THE 
GHOST OF THE LOST KING HOVERED ABOUT HIM. 

WHEN the first idea of his identity with 
King Louis XVII of France, came to 
Eleazer Williams is lost in obscurity. He 
did not know himself, as he has placed it at dif- 
ferent periods. Way back in those early days of 
his triumph over the heathen customs of the 
Oneida, about a year after Mr. Albert G. Ellis 
arrived to be his companion, in 1820, "he dropped 
a few remarks," says Ellis, "that but for his 
Dauphin claim, thirty years after, I should have 
forgotten. He was vain of his personal appear- 
ance. One day after shaving and making his 
toilet, he was admiring himself before the glass, 
when he challenged me to admire his fine looks, 
especially his keen eye, rosy cheeks and bright 
countenance; and truth to say, he was not bad 
looking at the age of thirty or thirty-five. 'See, ' 
said he, 'is this the face of a savage? How much 
Indian blood is there? We will see in time, whether 
the Indian or white man prevails in this face." 

Numerous instances have been given in former 
pages of Frenchmen visiting him at the home of 
his Indian father, and of the conversations he 
had overheard at home and other places, all cal- 
culated to arouse his suspicion of something in his 

217 



PRINCE ORCREOLE 

history which remained a mystery. But he seemed 
to have solved it by 1838 or before, for at that 
time as mentioned in another place, he entered 
the newspaper office of George H. Haskins, editor 
of "the Buffalo Express," in Buffalo, New York, 
and -'confided to him under seal of most profound 
secrecy, that he, Eleazer, was the lost Dauphin 
of France, mentioned his early idiocy, his fall in 
Lake George, and miraculous restoration of mem- 
ory." 

Then came the French officers tramping into 
Caughnawaga from Montreal, met him at the 
wigwam of the ancient squaw, he owned as 
mother, "and told him that he looked like the 
Bourbons, that he was the same age the Dauphin 
would have been, and that perhaps he was the 
Dauphin himself. " And so all through the years, 
wherever he went, the ghost of the Lost King 
hovered about him. 

Now came the visit of the Prince de Joinville 
in the cool of autumn, October 1841. 

Napolean who had ridden on the last waves of 
the Revolution into power made a wreck of Europe 
and established a court outshining in splendor 
and etiquette, all the ancient courts of Europe, 
saw his star set when the Russian and German 
armies entered Paris, ten years later. Emperor 
Alexander then permitted the French to choose 
their own ruler, and the Senate decreed France 
to be an hereditary monarchy, and called the 

218 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

eldest surviving brother of Louis XVI to the 
throne. The entry of Louis XVIII into the Tuiler- 
ies met withuniversalapproval;butinexilehe, had 
''nothing remembered, and nothing forgotten." 
From the very first it was intended to restore the 
monarchy with all its former absolutism, which 
was unpopular. With the return of the royal 
party came Madam Royal, sister of the Lost 
King, now the Duchese d' Angouleme, who was 
so effected on entering the palace again after 
twenty-two years, that she fainted. What re- 
mained of the Temple was demolished in 1811; 
but a weeping willow in the garden, planted in 
1814 by the Duchese of Angouleme, marks the 
spot to-day where the tower stood. 

A funeral service took place at the ancient 
Cathedral of Notre Dame in memory of Louis 
XVI, Marie Antoinette and Princess Elizabeth, 
an imposing public ceremony of deep solemnity, 
attended by the members of the royal family, all 
the monarchs, generals and ministers of state in 
Paris. Some months later, the remains of the 
royal martyrs were exhumed and ceremoniously 
interred at St. Denis, that mausoleum of all the 
Kings of France. Why was not the Lost King 
Louis XVII included in this imposing funeral serv- 
ice? Also in this removal to St. Denis; and why 
was his name not placed on the monument erected 
to these royal victims of the Revolution? In a 
few months Napoleon had landed from Elba, the 

219 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Bourbons bundled out of Paris and "Napoleon 
entered the Tuileries; and such was the enthusi- 
asm of his welcome, that he was literally borne by 
the crowd up the staircase of the palace, with 
cries of 'vive le Emperor, ' yet in a hundred days 
he met his Waterloo. Wellington and Blucher 
made their triumphal entry into Paris. Louis 
XVIII returned to the Tuileries, was unpopular, 
and on his death after a reign of ten years, the 
Duke d'Artois, his brother, became King Charles 
X. Hewas too much a Bourbon to be popular. In 
1830, after a stormy reign of six years, an insurrec- 
tion in Paris at which eight thousand people were 
killed, compelled him to flee across the channel. 
The infamous Duke of Orleans, originator of the 
Revolution, cousin of the King, and who as mem- 
ber of the Assembly voted for "death," in the 
trial of the King, had by his noble wife, the only 
daughter of the grand old nobleman, the Duke of 
Penthievre, a family of whom the eldest son, 
Louis Philippe, Duke de Chartres, fought under 
Demourier in the Revolutionary army, and escaped 
into Switzerland, where he taught school; after- 
wards traveled in America and lived in Brooklyn. 
There is a story that he was a changeling, the 
son of low birth. He married Princess Marie 
Amelie, daughter of a sister of Marie Antoinette, 
who as a child had wept for the death of the Dau- 
phin in the Temple, and who was to have married 
him if he lived. 

220 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 



He returned to France in the train of the royal- 
ists when Napoleon abdicated in 1814, as Duke of 
Orleans, recovered his property and lived with 
his family at the beautiful chateau of Neuilly, 
near Paris. 

The provisional 'government which rose out of 
the insurrection which drove King Charles out of 
France was composed of the veteran revolution- 
ists Lafayette, Lafitte, the rich banker, Thiers, 
the literary historian and Talleyrand the diplo- 
mat. They determined to bring Louis Philippe to 
the throne, but the envoy sent to inform, could 
not find him. At midnight he entered Paris on 
foot in plain clothes, having clambered over the 
barricades. First made Lieutenant General of 
the Kingdom, he was elected by the bourgeoisie 
or trades men and merchants, as King. "He was 
short and stout. His head was shaped like a 
pear and surmounted by an elaborate browm wig, " 
to cover his gray hair. He was not majestic. 
He was not popular, nor an ideal Frenchman, but 
of the small groser type. He was anxious to marry 
off his children to prosperous and rich thrones. 
There were many occasions to cause him to study 
the means to make his throne more secure. In 
fact he|was driven into exile after reigning 
eighteen years as the citizen King. He had not 
favored Lafayette, after he became King and 
Talleyrand who when signing his constitution 
had remarked that it was the thirteenth he had 

221 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

sig"ned, now an old man died in a few years. The 
masses began to clamor again against the classes 
"as guilty of diabolical selfishness and systematic 
robbery of the poor. " The gay Duchess de Berri, 
with several friends landed near Marseilles in 
1832, with the ambitious design of placing her 
son, the Duke de Bordeaux, grandson of Charles 
X. on the throne. After many adventures she 
was caught and imprisoned in the citadel of 
Blaye. Louis Napoleon impelled by fancies re- 
garding his "destiny," resolved to make an at- 
tempt to recover the Empire, appeared at Stros- 
burg in 1836, and endeavored to seduce the soldiers 
to rally to his standard, but having failed he was 
deported. Again he made the attempt, was seized 
and imprisoned in the fortress of Ham. 

Louis Philippe was shot at thirteen times; but 
escaped assassination. He is said to have ridden 
in a steel lined carriasfe with his back to the 
horses. Though there was comparative peace 
abroad, "He had," says William Chambers, 
"what might be called a continual battle for 
existence, which rendered it imperative on him 
to adopt those stringent and repressive measures, 
which supplied to his indefatigable adversaries 
renewed grounds of reproach and vituperation." 

Such being the history of his reign, one can 
readily believe that he would be justified in pro- 
posing terms to all those who laid claim to rights 
in the crown, which he must feel he held, but by 

222 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

accident. The story of Eleazer Williams which 
was known long before 1841, may have come to 
his notice. He would not despise it. Talleyrand 
who expired in 1838, had left secret memoirs. 
Barras, whose name has been so long connected 
with the disappearance of the Little King, had 
died the year before Louis Philippe became King, 
and Barras had left secret memoirs of his time, 
which had been seized by the government, and 
never published until 1895. The archives were 
accessible to the King, and doubtless revealed 
the unknown history of Louis XVII. There was 
every reason why King Louis Philippe should 
seek an arrangement with Eleazer Williams, who 
was making claim to the throne, even if his story 
was a myth, for he thereby removed any trouble 
which it might bring to his unstable position. 



4* 



223 



XX 



THE PRINCE DE JOINVILLE CROSSES AMERICA TO 
INTERVIEW ELEAZER WILLIAMS. 

THE son of King- Louis Philippe would be the 
proper person to conduct the negotiation as 
it was strictly a family affair, and being- in 
command of a ship, the Prince could sail to New 
York or Boston with his "Belle Paule," with her 
five hundred sailors and his staff, without excit- 
ing- any suspicion. This he did do. The Prince 
de Joinville, third son of Louis Philippe was now 
twenty- three years of age, "slender, tall, dark, a 
very naval appearing man." 

In the autumn of 1841, when Mrs. Elizabeth 
Wormeley Latimer was a girl of nineteen, she 
came out to Boston to remain the winter with the 
family of George Ticknor, and go into society 
with their daughter a debutante. Some weeks 
before Christmas it was announced that the Prince 
de Joinville, who, after bringing back the body 
of Napoleon, the year before from St. Helena to 
Paris, had brought his frigate the Belle Paule to 
America, was coming to Boston. Agreat reception 
and ball was to be given for him and his officers 
in the historic Faneuil Hall, and the young girls 
in the smart set were elated at the prospect. 
The day fixed upon drew near. The officers of 

224 




Prince de Joinville 

Son of King Louis Philippe, sent to see Eleazer Williams at Green Bay. 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

the Belle Paule assembled in Boston, but there 
was no Prince, nor any news of him. Where 
could he be? The officers were questioned, said 
they ''believed he was in western New York, near 
the frontier of Canada." There was mystery in 
his movements, which were kept secret from the 
public and his officers. The day before the ball 
and still no Prince. How could they have the 
ball without him? Expectation rose hig-h among 
the young ladies. On the morning of the ball, 
however, they heard the Prince had arrived. 

It was a most beautiful reception, with tricolor 
decorations, which still lingers in the memory of 
the happy participants. But none discovered 
until the appearance of Putnam's with the "Bour- 
bon among us" story, the whereabouts of the 
Prince while they waited in Boston for his return. 
He was o:ff across America to interview Eleazer 
Williams. 

After the celebration of his early triumph in 
missionary labor at Oneida, Rev. Williams, 
journeyed to St. Regis, to see the aged Indian 
chief and squaw whom he had supposed were his 
parents. Here he tarried until in October, then 
began his return to his wife and children on the 
bank of the Fox river above Green Bay in Wis- 
consin. He crossed New York state by stage, 
took a Chicago boat at Buffalo, which landed him 
at Mackinac. Before leaving St. Regis he had 
learned of the arrival of the Prince de Join vi lie 

225 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

in America. Of this he says: ''One of the first 
questions that he asked on his arrival in New 
York was, whether there was such a person 
known as Eleazer Williams, among the Indians 
in the northern part of the state; and after some 
inquiries, in different quarters, he was told that 
there was such a person, who was at that time a 
Missionary of the Protestant Episcopal church, 
at Green Bay, Wisconsin, and he was advised to 
apply for further information to some prominent 
members of the church in the city. He accord- 
ingly applied to Mr. Thomas Ludlow Ogden, who 
at the Prince's request, wrote to me, stating that 
the Prince was then in the country, and before 
his return to France, would be happy to have an 
interview with me. I replied to Mr. Ogden, that 
I should be exceedingly happy to see the Prince 
at any time. I was much surprised with his com- 
munication; but supposed however, that as I had 
resided a long time in the west, and had been 
chaplin to Gen. Taylor, he might desire some lo- 
cal information which I could give him as readily 
as most men." The Prince leaving most of his 
companions at Albany had taken stage across 
the whole state of New York to Buffalo; where 
he took steamer to Green Bay; on a voyage across 
Lake Erie, passed Detroit through the St. Croix 
river and lake; then over Lake Huron to the strait 
of Mackinac, landing at the old fort of Mackinac 
on the Island, thence over the head of Lake 

226 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Michig-an to Green Bay, over the waters of which 
he arrived at the village, and put up at the Astor 
House. Of this journey the Prince has furnished 
the plausable explanation in his Memoirs: "I was 
anxious to go, via. the Great Lakes to Green 
Bay, on Lake Michigan, and there starting- from 
Mackinac, the old Indian Michillimacinac, to fol- 
low up the track of our officers, soldiers and mis- 
sionaries who pushed on till they discovered the 
Mississippi. " He denies afterwards that he made 
the journey to see Eleazer Williams. But the 
reason he gives for the journey is singular, in 
view of the historical fact that the French "offic- 
ers, soldiers and missionaries" voyaged on the 
Ottawa river in Canada, to the upper Lake Huron 
and thence to the strait of Mackinac, not over 
New York state, or Lake Erie or Huron. Also 
that the Michillimackinac of those "soldiers and 
missionaries," was on the mainland in Michigan 
on Lake Michigan, not on the Island where he 
landed, but eight miles distant. Also that the 
Astor House at Green Bay where he lodged and 
the home of Captain John McCarty where he 
slept, were across the river from the old French 
Fort, and the McCarty lodge was fourteen miles 
away from the old French fort, or six miles from 
DePere, the only historical scenes. Hence the 
Prince journeyed a good many hundred miles to 
see the sites which he did not seek to see when he 
arrived. If his purpose is to be credited, it is 

227 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

very strange that after an historical pilgrimage 
of thousands of miles, he had not set his patent 
leather boot on a single spot of earth made sacred 
by that noble army of discoverers, missionaries or 
soldiers of France, who blazed the pathway to 
the west. That the Prince did seek to meet 
Eleazer Williams, is verified by Captain Shook 
of the Columbus, on which he voyaged to the 
Island of Mackinac of whom he requested inform- 
ation of Eleazer Williams. 

Mr. George T. Raymond, editor of "Northern 
Light" of Hallowell, Maine, wrote Putnams — "I 
joined the Joinville party in New York, traveled 
with it to Green Bay, and during several conversa- 
tions with the Prince, heard him express a most 
particular anxiety to find out this Mr. Williams, 
and have an interview with him." Mr. James O. 
Brayman, one of the editors of the "Buffalo 
Courier" wrote to Rev. Dr. John Hanson: "In 
the fall of 1841, I took steamboat at Cleveland 
for Detroit. The Prince de Joinville and party 
were on board, having come up from Buffalo. 
There were also several gentlemen of French des- 
cent from Detroit, aboard. In the evening, when 
sitting in the cabin, the prince conversed freely 
— part of the time in French, part in English. 
While conversing with the late Col. Beaubien, he 
made the inquiries concerning Mr. Williams, and 
spoke of his intention of visiting him at Green 
Bay. Col. B., who had, I believe, been an Indian 

228 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

trader, knew Mr. W. well, personally or by repu- 
tation, and replied to the Prince as to his where- 
abouts and occupation. The Prince inquired as 
to his personal bearing, and asked various gen- 
eral questions concerning him, and had the 
appearance of considerable earnestness in his 
inquiries. The conversation continued some min- 
utes, and concluded by the Prince remarking: 'I 
shall see him before I return.' This matter has 
slept in my memory, and having been called up 
by the late discussions, is not very distinct as to 
particulars; the general features, howeiver, are 
as fresh in my mind as an occurrence of yesterday. 
I have a relative who was some years a teacher 
in the Indian Mission school at Green Bay. I 
have heard her relate the circumstances of the 
visit of the Prince de Joinville to Mr. Williams 
as something involving much of mystery, and 
that it, for a while, produced a marked and ob- 
servable change in Mr. W. 's conduct. He ap- 
peared abstracted at times, and excited as by 
some great emotion. She remarked that the 
Prince treated him with more than ordinary def- 
erence and consideration, for which she could not 
account at the time." 

Hon. Theodore Conkey of Appleton, also came 
as a young man of twenty-two from Buffalo to 
the Bay with the Prince and heard him ask for 
Rev. Williams. (See appendix IV.) 

Rev. Eleazer Williams had kept a diary of 

229 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

everything which happened to him since the year 
1808, from which, with the interview taken down 
by Rev. Dr. John Hanson, the material of the 
narrative of the meeting with the Prince is 
obtained. Rev. Williams, with his son, John 
Lawe Williams on their journey toward home, by 
the steamer from Buffalo bound for Chicago, had 
arrived at Mackinac Island at two o'clock in the 
afternoon of Saturday, October 16, where they 
remained to await the arrival of the steamer 
from Buffalo to Green Bay. His son was indis- 
posed for which reason they were pleased to 
land. Rev. Williams visited Rev. Coit, pastor of 
the Congregational church, who had been mis- 
sionary for a long time among the Chippewa In- 
dians. It was arranged to have divine service 
the next day which was Sunday at the Presby- 
terian meeting house, and that Rev. Williams 
should officiate in the morning. 

At the service Sunday morning, "all the gentle- 
men of the garrison, the soldiers and the citizens 
of the place were in attendance." "Two soldiers 
called and asked for prayer books. I was only 
able to give them one." 

Vessels which had recently arrived announced 
the speedy arrival of the Prince de Joinville. 
The regular steamer for Green Bay came into 
port on Monday (October 18) at twelve o'clock. 
"His royal Highness, Prince de Joinville and his 
suit were among the passengers." Public ex- 

230 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 



pectation was on tiptoe and crowds were at the 
wharf. The steamer at length came in sig-ht, 
salutes were fired and answered, the colors run 
up, and she came into port in fine style. Imme- 
diately she touched, the Prince and his retinue 
came on shore and went out some little distance 
from the town, perhaps half a mile, to visit some 
natural curiosities in the neighborhood— the 
Sug-arloaf Rock and the Arch Rock. The stea mer 
awaited their return. During their absence I was 
standing on the wharf among the crowd, when 
Capt. John Shook, (who confirmed the statement) 
came up to me and asked whether I was going on 
to Green Bay, adding that the Prince de Joinville 
had made inquiries of him two or three times 
since leaving Buffalo, concerning a Rev. Mr. 
Williams, the missionary to the Indians at Green 
Bay, and that he had told the Prince he knew 
such a person, referring to me, whom he supposed 
was the man he meant. I replied to the captain 
he must mean another person, as I do not know 
the Prince. Soon after the Prince and his suite 
arrived and went on board. I did the same, and 
the steamer put to sea. It was, I think, about 
2 o'clock when we left Mackinac. When we 
were fairly on the water, the captain came to me 
and said, 'The Prince, Mr. Williams, requests me 
to say to you that he desires to have an interview 
with you, and will be happy either to have you 
come to him, or allow me to introduce him to 



231 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

you.' 'Present my compliments to the Prince,' I 
said, and say that I put myself entirely at his 
disposal, and will be proud to accede to what- 
ever may be his wishes in the matter. ' The- Cap- 
tain again retired, and soon returned bring-ing 
the Prince de Joinville with him. I was sitting 
at the time, on a barrel. The Prince not only 
started with evident and involuntary surprise and 
amazement when he saw me, but there was a 
great agitation in his face and manner — a slight 
paleness and quivering of the lip — which I could 
not help remarking at the time, but which struck 
me more forcibly afterwards in connection with 
the whole train of circumstances, and by contrast 
with his usual.self -possessed manner. He grasped 
both of his hands with mine, earnestly and re- 
spectfully, accompanied with earnest and cheer- 
ing gratulations of his having met me, and drew 
me immediately into conversation. The atten- 
tion which he paid me seemed to astonish, not 
only myself and the passengers, but also the 
Prince's retinue." 

" 'Amazing sight!" he said. 'It is what I have 
wished to see for this long time. I trust I shall 
not be intruding too much on your patience were 
I to ask some questions of your past and present 
life among the Indians. ' His eyes were intently 
fixed on me, eyeing my person from head to foot. " 

"At dinner time there was a separate table laid 
for the Prince and his companions, and he invited 

232 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

me to sit with them and offered me the. seat of 
honor by his side. But I was a little abashed by 
the attentions of the Prince, and there was an 
American officer who had attached himself to the 
party and behaved in an obtrusive and unbecom- 
ing- manner, which seemed to annoy them, and 
indeed one of the Prince's companions had ex- 
pressed to me his disgust at his behavior. So I 
thought I would keep out of the circle, and begged 
the Prince to excuse me, and permit me to dine 
at the ordinary table with the passengers, which 
accordingly I did. After dinner the conversation 
turned between us on the first French settlements 
in America, the valor and enterprise of the early 
adventurers, and the loss of Canada to France, 
at which the Prince expressed deep regret. 

In the course of his remarks, though in what 
connection I cannot say, he told me that he left 
his suite at Albany, took a private conveyance 
and went to the head of Lake George. He was 
very copious and fluent in speech, and I was sur- 
prised at the good English which he spoke — a 
little broken indeed, like mine, but still very in- 
telligible. We continued talking late into the 
night, reclining in the cabin, on the cushions in 
the stern of the boat. When we retired to rest, 
the Prince lay on the locker and I in the first berth 
next to it. The next day the steamer did not 
arrive at Green Bay until about 3 o'clock, and 
during most of the time we were in conversation. 

233 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Looking back thoughtfully upon what was said, 
I can now perceive that tlie Prince was gradually- 
preparing my mind for what was to come at last, 
although then the different subjects seemed to 
arise naturally enough. 

This afternoon the Prince did wish to take 
my son with him to France for an education. In 
connection with this he was informed that we had 
an infant who had not yet received baptism. He 
readily consented to stand as a godfather, and 
would give the name of his mother to the child. 
But alas! in my first landing, I received the mel- 
ancholy intelligence that the lovely babe was 
in her grave, buried on the preceding Sunday; 
service performed by the Rev. Mr. Porter of the 
Congregationalist Church. When the news was 
communicated to the Prince he appeared to sym- 
pathize with me, and remarked, taking me by the 
hand, ''Descendant of a suffering race, may you 
be supported in this affliction. " At three o'clock, 
Tuesday, October 19th, the boat reached G-reen 
Bay, and came proudly up to the Astor ware- 
house and dock, near the present upper bridge. 
The Prince said that I would oblige him by 
accompanying him to his hotel, and taking up my 
quarters at the Astor House. I begged to be 
excused, as I wished to go to the house of my 
father-in-law. He replied that he had some mat- 
ters of great importance to speak to me about, 
and as he could not stay long at Green Bay, but 

234 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

would take his departure the next day, or the day- 
after, he wished I would comply with his request. 
As there was some excitement consequent on the 
Prince's arrival, and a great number of persons 
were at the Astor House waiting to see him, I 
thought I would take advantage of the confusion 
to go to my father-in-law's (Joseph Jourdain) and 
promised to return in the evening, when he would 
be more private." 

Green Bay at this date was a village of about 
one thousand inhabitants living in various condi- 
tioned houses strung along the river front for 
three miles, and known as Menomineeville, 
Shantytown, Astor, and Navarino, all promoted 
under different interests and in sharp contest for 
the final location of a future metropolis. On the 
west side of the river there were only a half 
dozen houses, beside the almost abandoned bar- 
racks of old Fort Howard, just partially brought 
to life by Major Shaler, who with some officers had 
only a short time before, scattered the bats and 
swept away the cobwebs, preparatory to assuming 
residence and command. Astor the central one 
of these rival villages, promoted by the company 
of which John Jacob Astor was the principal 
proprietor, had a large warehouse and boat land- 
ing, and near by on the corner of the present 
Adams and Mason street stood the Astor Hotel, 
all nearly new having been completed only three 
years before. This celebrated house, was a three 

236 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 



story frame building, "furnished elegantly for 
those days," "considered the finest hotel this side 
of Detroit. " 

News of the expected visit of the Prince had by 
some means preceeded him, and the villagers put 
on their dress coats and white aprons, and 
crowded to the river front to catch sight of the 
son of a king. The old settler still relates with 
great glee, how a number of the important peo- 
ple suddenly discovered they must take their sup- 
per that evening at the Astor House, and of their 
disappointment when they did not have the Prince 
for table guest, as he had ordered his dinner in 
his rooms. "Quite an excitement was raised in 
our quiet town by the visit of the Prince de Join- 
ville and suite, " says Mrs. Mary Irwin Mitchell. 
"From that time began the question of Rev. Eleazer 
Williams being the lost Dauphin." 

"On my return I found the Prince alone with 
the exception of one attendant, whom he dis- 
missed," continues the narrative of Rev. Williams. 
"The gentlemen of his party were in an adjoining 
room laughing and carousing, and I could dis- 
tinctly hear them during my interview with the 
Prince. He opened the conversation by saying 
that he had a communication to make to me of a 
very serious nature as concerned himself, and of 
the last importance to me, that it was one in 
which no others were interested, and therefore 
before proceeding further, he wished to obtain 

236 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

some pledg-e of secrecy, some promise, that I 
would not reveal to anyone whatihe was going- to 
say. I demurred to any such conditions being 
imposed previous to my being made acquainted 
with the nature of the subject, as there might be 
something in it after all, prejudicial and injurious 
to others, and it was at length after some alter- 
cation, agreed that I should pledge my honor, 
not to reveal what the Prince was going to say, 
provided there was nothing in it prejudicial to 
anyone, and I signed a promise to this effect on a 
sheet of paper. It was vague and general, for I 
would not tie myself down to absolute secrecy, 
but left the matter conditional. When this was 
done, the Prince spoke to this effect: 

"You have been accustomed, sir, to consider 
yourself a native of this country; but you are not. 
You are of foreign descent; you were born in 
Europe, sir, and however incredible it may at 
first seem to you, I have to tell you that you are 
the son of a king. There ought to be much con- 
solation to you to know this fact. You have suf- 
fered a great deal, and have been brought very 
low, but you have not suffered more, or been more 
degraded than my father, who was long in exile 
and poverty in this country; but there is this dif- 
ference between him and you, that he was all 
along aware of his high birth, whereas you have 
been spared the knowledge of your origin. " 

When the Prince had said this I was much over- 

237 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

come, and thrown into a state of mind which you 
can easily imagine. In fact I hardly knew what 
to do or say, and my feelings were so much 
excited that I was like one in a dream, and much 
was said between us of which I can give but an 
indistinct account. However, I remember that I 
told him that his communication was so startling 
and unexpected that he must forgive me for being 
incredulous, and that really I was ' 'between two. ' ' 

"What do you mean," he said, "by being 
'between two?'" 

I replied that on the one hand, it scarcely 
seemed to me that he could believe what he said, 
and on the other I feared he might be under some 
mistake as to the person. He assured me, how- 
ever, that he spoke the simple truth, and that in 
regard to the identity of the person, he had 
ample means in his possession to satisfy me that 
there was no mistake in that respect. I then 
requested him to proceed with the disclosure 
already partly made, and to inform me in full of 
of the secret of my birth. He replied that in 
doing so, it was necessary that a certain process 
should be gone through in order to guard the 
interest of all parties concerned. I inquired 
what kind of process he meant. Upon this the 
Prince rose and went to his trunk, which was in 
the room, and took from it a parchment which he 
laid on the table, and set before me that I might 
read and give him my determination in regard to 

238 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

it. There was also on the table pen, ink and 
wax, and he placed there governmental seals of 
France, the one, if I mistake not, used under the 
old monarchy. It was of precious metal, but 
whether of gold or silver, or a compound of both, 
I cannot say. I think, on reflection, the latter; 
but I may be mistaken, for my mind was so 
bewildered, and agitated, and engrossed with one 
absorbing question, that things which at another 
time would have made a strong impression on me 
were scarcely noticed, although I must confess 
that when I knew the whole, the sight of the seal 
put before me by a member of the family of 
Orleans, stirred my indignation. The document 
which the Prince placed before me was very 
handsomely written, in double parallel columns 
of French and English. I continued intently 
considering it for some time. During this time 
the Prince left me undisturbed, remaining for the 
most part in the room, but he went out three or 
four times. The purport of the document, which 
I read repeatedly word by word, comparing the 
French with the English, was this: It was a 
solemn abdication of the crown of France in 
favor of Louis Philippe, by Charles Louis, the 
son of Louis XVI, who was styled Louis XVII, 
King of France and Navarre, with all accom- 
panying names and titles of honor according to 
the custom of the old French monarchy, together 
with a minute specification in legal phraseology 

239 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

of the conditions and considerations, and provisos, 
upon which the abdication was made. These 
conditions were in brief, that a princely estab- 
lishment should be secured to me either in this 
country or in France, at my option, and that 
Louis Philippe would pledge himself on his part 
to secure the restoration or an equivalent for it, 
of all the private property of the royal family 
rightfully belonging to me, which had been con- 
fiscated in France during the Revolution, or in 
any way got into other hands. Now you ask me 
why I did not retain, at all hazards, this docu- 
ment, or, at any rate, take a copy of it; but it is 
very easy for you, sitting quietly there, to 
prescribe the course which prudence and self- 
interest would dictate. A day or two afterwards 
all these points, and the different lights in which 
the thing might be viewed, came to my mind, but 
at the moment I thought of nothing except the 
question of acceptance or reiection. And then 
remember the sudden manner in which the whole 
affair came upon me, and the natural timidity 
and bashfulness of one who had always considered 
himself of such obscure rank when called with- 
out preparation to discuss such topics with a man 
of high position like the Prince. Besides which, 
my word of honor had been so recently and 
solemnly pledged, and a sense of personal dignity 
excited by the disclosures of the Prince, that I 
never so much as thought of taking any advan- 

240 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

tage of the circumstances, but simply and solely 
whether or not I should sign my name, and set 
my seal to a deliberate surrender of my rights 
and those of my family. It was a deeply painful 
and harrowing time, and I cannot tell you, and 
you cannot imagine, how I felt when trying to 
decide this question. At length I made my 
decision, and rose, and told the Prince that I had 
considered the matter fully in all its aspects, 
and was prepared to give him my definite answer 
upon the subject; and then went on to say, that 
whatever might be the personal consequences to 
myself, I felt that I could not be the instrument 
of bartering away with my own hand the rights 
pertaining to me by my birth, and sacrificing the 
interests of my family, and that I could only give 
to him the answer which de Provence gave to 
the ambassador of Napoleon at Warsaw, ' 'Though 
I am in poverty, sorrow and exile, I will not 
sacrifice my honor." 

The Prince upon this assumed a loud tone, and 
accused me of ingratitude in trampling on the 
overtures of the King, his father, who he said was 
actuated in making the proposition more by feel- 
ings of kindness and piety towards me than by any 
other consideration, since his claim to the French 
throne rested on an entirely different basis to 
mine, viz., not that of hereditary descent, but of 
popular election. When he spoke in this strain 
I spoke loud also, and said that as he, by his dis- 

241 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

closure, had put me in the position of a superior, 
I must assume that position, and frankly say that 
my indignation was stirred by the memory that 
one of the family of Orleans had imbrued his 
hands in my father's blood, and that another 
now wished to obtain from me an abdication of 
the throne. When I spoke of superiority, the 
Prince immediately assumed a respectful silence 
for several minutes. It had now grown very late, 
and we parted, with a request from him that I 
would reconsider the proposal of his father, and 
not be too hasty in my decision. I returned to 
my father-in-law's, and the next day saw the 
Prince again, and on his renewal of the subject 
gave him a similar answer. Before he went away 
he said, 'Though we part, I hope we part friends. ' 

In the evening after his arrival at Green Bay, 
the citizens gave him an elaborate reception and 
dinner, which was attended by the polite society 
for which this frontier metropolis was famous. 
Among the guests were Mrs. Morgan L. Martin 
and Eleazer Williams. The Prince remarked 
that he was surprised to hear the French lan- 
guage spoken so correctly in this far off out-post 
of civilization. 

That night the Prince remained at the Astor 
house in Green Bay and until twelve o'clock 
noon of Wednesday, October 20th. ' 'The adieus, " 
says Rev. Williams, "between the Prince and 
myself were affectionate, he promised to write 

242 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

me on his arrival at New York. The gentlemen 
officers, presented me with their cards, urged me 
to call on them in France. May the best blessings 
of Heaven rest on the whole party." Through a 
cold rainstorm which lasted the whole afternoon, 
the Prince and escort on horseback proceeded 
by a narrow trail which wound through the woods 
along the river margin, southward fourteen miles 
to the temporary wilderness log cabin shack of 
Captain John McCarty on the east bank of the 
river, where the Prince and suite spent the night. 
Rev. Williams has not related the incident of 
the Prince de Joinville visit to his home. This 
visit we suppose was made during the journey to 
Captain John McCarty's house, or the next day. 
Mrs. Sharpe, now an old lady, recalls it quite 
vividly. She says the Prince came over the 
ferry to her house at DePere alone; that her 
father Captain Stewart drove the Prince in a lum- 
ber wagon, six miles south to the home of Eleazer 
Williams, and brought the Prince back again; and 
while he ate his late dinner with them he was 
constantly talking of Williams, and of his sad 
poverty. She is possibly in error in supposing 
that her father drove the Prince back to the 
Astor House; it was we suppose to Captain Mc- 
Carty's, he was taken. Her narrative is given in 
full in Appendix II. For some of the journeys 
Dan Whitney, Jr., was given a watch as related 
by Mrs. Dunham, Appendix III. 

243 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Captain John McCarty was a gentleman of 
Alexandria, Virginia, who was temporarily living 
in Wisconsin, purchasing and overlooking large 
tracts of land. His shack was on the east bank 
of the river opposite the homestead of Eleazer 
Williams, fourteen miles up river from Green Bay. 
Mrs. Frederick Pleasants, a daughter of John Mc- 
Carty, has resided for many years at Menasha, 
Wisconsin, and informs the author that the cor- 
respondence of her father was by her mother's 
request, buried in her grave; and that a number 
of years ago their old homestead on the banks of 
the Potomac was destroyed by fire with all its 
priceless treasures of family pictures, books, let- 
ters and papers reaching back for several hun- 
dred years. 

The family were connected with the Lord Fair- 
fax, George Washington, and the Robert E. Lee 
families of Virginia. Mrs. Pleasants when a girl 
heard Eleazer preach, and has furnished a letter 
giving her impressions which will be found in the 
— appendix. 

Proceeding on his journey along the trail 
which meandered the east bank of the Fox river 
as far as Kaukauna, then known as Kakalin Rap- 
ids, they struck out through the wilderness over 
the hills on an uncertain highway known as the 
military road cut out by young Jefferson Davis, 
when on duty in Wisconsin, and were finally com- 
pelled by the cold rain to put up at a negro Catos' 

244 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

shanty in the Stockbridge woods on the east 
shore of Lake Winnebago. There was no other 
house near and this was their only chance for a 
covering. The Priest Bondual who had seen the 
Prince at Green Bay said that the Prince was 
much pleased and highly gratified with his inter- 
view with Rev. Williams. 

After the interview was published in Putnam's, 
the * 'secretary for the commands of the Prince 
de Joinville" sent a long denial, admitting he met 
a passenger, "whose name has entirely escaped 
his memory," and that he felt bound to reply to 
the paper. Captain John Shook then living at 
Huron, wrote, *'so far as the matters relating to 
me, Rev. Williams has stated truthfully. I recol- 
lect the apparent surprise of the Prince on the 
occasion and wondered why he should pay to the 
humble and unpretending Indian missionary such 
pointed and polite attention. I have long known 
Rev. Williams and seen much of him in our voy- 
ages on the lakes, and always found him an ami- 
able upright man, to be relied on in any state- 
ment he might make. " 

But here is a statement which shows the im- 
pression of the officers who were with the Prince. 

Mr. George Sumner, brother of Senator Charles 
Sumner of Massachusetts met in the year 1846, 
at Brest, one of the officers who accompanied 
the Prince de Joinville to Green Bay, and, in the 
cabin of his vessel, looking cautiously round be- 

245 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

fore he spoke, he said to Mr. Sumner, that there 
was something- very singular in the American 
trip of the Prince who went out of his way to 
meet an old man among the Indians, who had 
very much of a Bourbon aspect, and who was 
spoken of as the son of Louis XVI. " 



•^t(!• 



246 



XXI 

''PAINT ME AS I AM, WITH ALL MY WARTS AND 
SCARS AND IMPERFECTIONS, " SAID CROM- 
WELL TO THE PAINTER. 

THE life of Eleazer Williams is hereafter 
mostly an account of preaching at different 
places about the country. He delivered the 
historical sermon at Deerfield on the anniversary 
of the death of Rev. John Williams, the pastor of 
long ago. He became by other arrangements of 
the societies almost disassociated with the 
Indians. In 1846 the society for the Propagation 
of the Gospel among the Indians, and others in 
North America, appropriated money for his 
support for two years. About 1850 he retired to 
St. Regis at the home of his ancient Indian 
mother, where he commenced a school, and had a 
missionary appointment from the Diocesan 
society of New York, and the Boston Unitarian 
Society, and again from the Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel. He traveled over all 
the east, preaching everywhere. As related 
above, Mrs. Pleasants heard him at Alexandria. 
Hon. Randolph B. Latimer before his marriage, 
wrote his impressions at the time, to his bride to 
be: 

247 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

''About the time that the question: 'Is there a 
Bourbon among us?' was being- discussed in this 
country, it was announced that the Rev. Eleazer 
Williams would preach on Sunday evening, at 
Mr. Killin's Church, on West Lexington Street, 
Baltimore. I was interested in the subject, and 
read a great deal about it, and determined to go 
and see the supposed Louis XVII, and hear him 
preach. In the vestibule of the church I met 
Mr. Killin, whom I knew personally, and he was 
accompanied by a tall, portly, fine-looking man 
in the plain costume of an Episcopal clergy- 
man. Instantly I recognized him as the supposed 
Bourbon, and made him a bow, which he returned 
most graciously. As he remained in the vesti- 
bule I could not take my eyes off him, and could 
see in his face, figure and manner nothing of the 
half-breed Indian, which some claimed he was; 
but a very decided resemblance to the portraits 
of Louis XVI, and other members of the Bourbon 
family; in fact, I could not help thinking, that 
had he been clad in royal robes he would have 
'looked every inch a King.' His sermon was a 
plain, practical one, his language simple, and his 
pronunciation rather more French than English, 
such as might be expected from a man who had 
passed his life doing missionary work among the 
Indians and half breeds along our Canadian bor- 
der, where French was used quite as much as 
English. His apparent age corresponded with 

248 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

what would have been that of the unfortunate 
prince, and I came away satisfied that he was the 
real Bourbon. His claim to the throne of Prance 
might have been substantiated, but he had no 
desire to raise it, and preferred the simple useful 
life in which he lived and died. " Of this peculiar 
nature Rev. Dr. Hanson says: "Not only the 
physical but the mental characteristics of Mr. 
Williams, curiously correspond with what the 
Dauphin would probably be if alive, in such a 
position after such a complicated career. He 
possesses a g-reat amount of native talent; an 
easy grace and dignity of manner when in polite 
society, which seems innate; a winning sweetness 
of disposition, and much simplicity; apparently 
warm religious feelings; but his judgment in 
matters of self-interest is not of the strongest; 
fluent and eloquent in diction, his ideas are not 
always well assorted; a mystery to himself as 
well as to others, subject to perpetual question- 
ings, he is sometimes abrupt; accustomed to 
Indian life, there is semibarbarism mingled with 
courtly grace and rovins: habits with warm 
affections; — in a word, he seems like one jumbled 
out of place by destiny, a partial wreck, shat- 
tered, but not broken. And the peculiarity of 
his character must be taken into account, in 
forming an estimate of his conduct, the singularity 
of which will create in many minds a prejudice 
against his veracity, since they will be unable to 

249 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

understand how a poor man could reject offers so 
splendid, or a man of the world neglect the 
opportunity of establishing" his regal birth, 
which the communication of De Joinville afforded, 
In this situation, they would have acted differ- 
ently. " Dr. Hanson says, Mr. Williams, while 
consenting to his paper in Putnams', did not 
suggest it. 

Dr. Hanson visited St. Regis in 1852 of which 
visit he relates — 

"He is a missionary at St. Regis and Hogans- 
burg, both miserable lonely places; receiving no 
payment from the Indians among whom he labors, 
and but a small stipend from the Missionary com- 
mittee. The rigors of the climate are excessive; 
the thermometer being frequently 30 degrees be- 
low zero, and one can scarcely conceive a situa- 
tion for an intelligent mind more lonely, more 
unbefriended, more destitute. He lives on the In- 
dian reservation, a wild tract of woodland par- 
tially cleared, here and there at the edges. Dead 
evergreen swamps, decayed vegetation, rude 
fences, half prostrate, surround the rickety shed, 
admitting the cold at a thousand crevices in 
which reside poor Williams and the old Indian 
woman, his reputed mother, whom he heroically 
treats as if she were his parent, though believing 
himself to be the son of the peerless Marie An- 
tionette. I found him well spoken of without 
exception, by all whom I conversed with in the 

250 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

vicinity, a good neighbor, an active missionary, 
a brave, cheerful old man, having- a kind word 
for all, and breasting fate with nothing outward 
to encourage him. He has no church building. 
He is trying to build a school-house on the Indian 
reservation, but it stands roofless in the piercing 
cold, the picture of desolation. " 

"The impression among all who know him, 
whether white persons or Indians, is, that he is 
not an Indian; and I conceive no fact in the world 
to be more certain than this. A respectable 
neighbor gave me a certificate, from which the 
following is an extract: "I was brought up at 
Hogansburg, and have served in the army, as a 
private in Florida, under General Worth. I have 
known Indians of various tribes, especially the 
Seminoles and the Iroquois. I have known In- 
dians as long as I have known white men. I am 
personally acquainted with the Rev. Eleazer 
Williams, and have known him since my child- 
hood. I do not believe him to be an Indian. He 
is entirely unlike the rest of the family. I knew 
his supposed brothers. They bore no resemblance 
to Eleazer. He looks like a German or a French- 
man. They were evidently Indians. I know an 
Indian as well as a cow or a horse." An intelli- 
gent Indian, who spoke English, said, 'He speaks 
very good Indian; but he is not like any Indian I 
ever saw. When I first met him I took him for 



251 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

an American. He is as much like a Frenchman 
as anything-.'" 

His former landlady at Hogansburg- said, '*I 
don't know whether he is an Indian or not. He 
does not look like one. If I had not head that he 
was one, I should not suppose that he was any 
more than you. He is not like any of his family. 
All the other children are dead." 

"All the undoubted children of Thomas Wil- 
liams were strongly marked Indians, notwith- 
standing" the white blood in their veins. They 
bore not the slightest resemblance to Eleazer 
Williams." 

"He is an intelligent, noble looking" old man, 
with no trace, however slight, of the Indian 
about him, except what may be fairly accounted 
for by his long residence among Indians. Being 
far more familiar with their language than with 
English which latter he speaks correctly and 
even eloquently as far as style is concerned, but 
pronounces imperfectly; his manner of talking" 
reminds you of an Indian, and he has the habit of 
shrugging his shoulders and gesticulating like 
one; but he has the port and presence of an 
European gentleman of high rank; a nameless 
something which I never saw but in persons 
accustomed to command; a countenance bronzed 
by exposure below the eyebrows; a fair, high 
ample, intellectual but receding forehead; a 
slightly aquiline but rather small nose; a long 

252 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Austrian lip, the expression of wJiich is of ex 
ceeding- sweetness when in repose; full fleshy- 
cheeks but hot high cheek bones; dark, bright, 
merry eyes of hazel hue; graceful, well formed 
neck; strong muscular limbs, indicating health and 
great activity; small hands and feet, and dark 
hair, sprinkled with grey, as fine in texture as 
silk. I should never have taken him for an In- 
dian. Some persons who saw him several years 
ago tell me that their impression is that he looked 
partially like one, but admit that their opinion 
may have been influenced by their having been 
previously told that he was of Indian extraction. 
I will here insert a description of him by another 
hand, furnished me by Mr. Williams. 

" 'His complexion is rather dark like that of one 
who had become bronzed by living much in the 
open air, and he passes for a half-breed. But his 
features are decidedly European, rather heavily 
moulded, and strongly characterized by the full, 
protuberant Austrian lips. This the experienced 
observer is well aware is never found in the abo- 
riginal, and very rarely among the Americans. 
His head is well formed, and sits proudly on his 
shoulders. His eyes are dark but not black. His 
hair may be called black, is rich and glossy and 
interspersed with gray. His eyebrows are full, 
and of the same color; upon the left is a scar. 
His beard is heavy and nose aquiline. The nostril 
is large and finely cut. His temperament is gen- 

253 



PRINCEOR CREOLE 

ial, with a dash of vivacity in his manners, he is 
fond of good living", and inclines to embonpoint, 
which is the characteristic of his (the Bourbon) 
family. ' ' ' 

Rev. Dr. Francis L. Hawes, Episcopal clergy- 
man and eminent historian sent the Bourbon 
papers to Putnams, and with it a letter in which 
he said that *'Rev. Dr. Hanson was a clergyman 
of worth and ability." "That his character and 
standing are such as to justify entire confidence." 
"As to Mr. Williams himself, I know him very 
well. He is a clergyman of the Protestant Epis- 
copal church whose labors have been, almost 
entirely, those of a missionary among the Indians. 
He is in good standing as a clergyman, and is 
deemed a man of truth among his acquaintances 
and those with whom he has longest lived. As 
his character for veracity becomes an all-impor- 
tant question, in considering the very remarkable 
facts contained in the narrative, Mr. Hanson took 
great pains in his inquiries on that point; and to 
that end made a visit to the spot where Mr. "Wil- 
liams had spent many years of his life, and was 
best known; the result was abundant and satis- 
factory testimonials, now in Mr. Hanson's posses- 
sion, that Mr. Williams has always been deemed 
a worthy and truthful man. I can add to this 
merely my statement that in all my intercourse 
with him, I have never found reason to doubt the 
correctness of his neighbors and acquaintances on 

254 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

their testimony to his character as stated above. " 
"From personal knowledge, I am able to say- 
that there is a remarkable simplicity both of man- 
ner and character about Mr. Williams. He pos- 
sesses an ordinary share of intellectual power; 
with but little quickness, however, of combina- 
tion in grouping- facts that bear on a common cen- 
tral point, and without much readiness in deduc- 
ing conclusions from them; and is incapable of 
framing a mass of circumstantial testimony, made 
up of a combination of many isolated facts. To 
do this, requires genius, and a high inventive f ac- 
uilty: Indeed, nothing has struck me more forci- 
bly in my frequent conversations with him on the 
facts embodied in Mr. Hanson's narrative than 
his seemingly entire non- perception of the bear- 
ing of many of the facts as testimony, and their 
coincidence with other events known to him, until 
these were pointed out to him. And sometimes 
he could not at first be made even then, to com- 
prehend readily the indicated relations. When, 
however he did comprehend the relations, his 
countenance would light up with a smile, and he 
would say, 'I see it now, but I never saw it 
before. ' " 

"I have found him uniformly amiable, and gen- 
tle in manner, and to all appearances a truly pious 
man. " 

"In short, a knowledge of the man has seemed 
to me to be an important part of the story he 

255 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

tells; his temperament, disposition, mental opera- 
tions, etc. , all g"0 to establishing- one of the facts 
explanatory of some particulars in the narrative. " 

"Whether the historical problem presented by- 
Mr. Hanson be here solved, is a matter which I 
will not undertake to decide. The only points of 
which I would speak with certainty are two: 
first, Mr. Williams is not an Indian; and secondly, 
he is not able to invent a complicated mass of 
circumstantial evidence to sustain a fabricated 
story." 

But over against these noble endorsements, 
Hon. John Y. Smith who knew him for ten years 
in Green Bay and often sat with him at the same 
table says : ' 'He was a fat, lazy, good for nothing- 
Indian; but cunning, crafty, fruitful in expedients 
to raise the wind. I doubt whether there was a 
man at Green Bay whose word commanded less 
confidence than that of Eleazer Williams." And 
General Albert G. Ellis writing of his character 
says: ''Eleazer Williams was the mostperfectadept 
at fraud, deceit and intrigue that the world has 
ever produced. ' ' But Judge Morgan L. Martin also 
knew him at Green Bay, and seems better to have 
understood him: "I never was any admirer of 
Williams or his methods, but I am inclined to 
think that General Ellis and others are too severe 
on him. A man reared amid savage surround- 
ings, " says Judge Martin, "as he was, should be 
judged by a different standard than we set up for 

256 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

one who has spent his life entirely among white 
people. No one can from childhood fraternize 
with Indians without absorbing their character- 
istics to some extent, and becoming vain, deceit- 
ful and boastful. He was a remarkable man in 
many respects, but was deeply imbued with false 
notions of life, and his career was a failure. He 
was neither better nor worse than his life-long 
companions and was what might have been ex- 
pected from one who had been sent into the world 
with certain racial vices and whose training and 
associations were not calculated to better him." 

"I verily believe he ate four pounds of that 
ham before he left the table," says Ellis. 
"Eleazer was built very much like a hogshead, 
largest in the middle and tapering a little both 
ways, and if you could have seen him eat, you 
would have thought him about as hollow. But 
not to exaggerate, in his capacity for eating he 
was a match for the hungriest Indian I ever saw, " 
says Hon. John Y. Smith. How his appetite re- 
calls the humiliation often experienced by the 
delicate Marie Antoinette upon the gormandising 
exhibition of her husband Louis XVI. 

"Williams would have passed for a pure Indian, 
with just a suspicion of the African in his com- 
plexion and features," says John Y. Smith. 
'*His skin was dark and of peculiar Indian tex- 
ture. His hair, eyebrows and eyelashes were of 
the most inky raven blackness, and such as no 

257 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

blonde ever wore," says Mr. Ellis. "I have 
known him for almost thirty years. His color, 
features, and the conformation of his face, testify 
to his (Indian) origin," says Governor Lewis 
Cass. It will be remembered that the Dauphin 
had light hair. 

But it is not infrequent that blonde in child- 
hood becomes brunette in after years. Captain 
McCarty, the host of the Prince de Joinviile at 
Little Kaukauna, had then raven black hair, but 
in childhood was light blonde. "Indian-ologists 
assure me that his ears were a sure mark of his 
Indian origin," says Dr. John G. Shea. "About 
his ears whether evidence of his Indian blood or 
not, they were much turned forward, protruded 
from his head. His toes turned in, Indian like," 
says Mr. Ellis. 

Two doctors, John W. Francis and Richard S. 
Kissam, of New York, m'ade an examination of 
Rev. Williams, and reported him: "a robust Europ- 
ean, of French blood," "and there is no traces of 
the aboriginal or Indian in him. " 

Another eminent New York doctor, B. Geron- 
delo, reported him, of "obviously .European com- 
plexion." 

Dr. H. N. Walker, of Hogansburg, in the vicinity 
of the St Regis reservation, reports that Eleazer 
Williams "has no ethnological connection with 
the St. Regis Indians, nor with any other Indians 
I have ever known. ' ' When four eminent medical 

258 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

men pronounce him a white man it must require 
more positive testimony than yet produced to 
secure belief that he was of Indian parentage. 

Corresponding- marks of identification were a 
scar over the left eyebrow inflicted by Simon; 
tumors on both elbows, both wrists, both knees, 
inoculation marks on his arm, one of which was 
in the form of a crescent. 

On the arm of Eleazer, "there were two dis- 
tinct marks of inoculation on the upper part of 
the left arm, one of which is semi-circular or 
crescent shaped on the outer margin," wrote Dr. 
John W. Frances in 1853. 

'*The Dauphin had on his arm inoculation 
marks of which one was the shape of a crescent, " 
says Madam de Rambaud in a letter to Duchess 
d' Angouleme. Dr. Charles W. Collins, secretary 
of the Franklin County Historical Society of 
Malone, N. Y., the Capital town of Franklin 
County, in which Hogansburg is located, writes, 
the authur under date of August 3, 1904: 

"Concerning this matter of vaccination, I have 
investigated the local history. In 1814 Dr. Albon 
Man, of Constable, N. Y., but then assisting the 
U. S. army surgeons at French Mills (Ft. Coving- 
ton) inoculated several persons at the latter 
place with vaccine virus. This was the first in- 
stance of that practice in this county. The 
next physician to practice vaccination was Dr. 
Roswell Bates of Ft. Covington, January 9, 1820, 

259 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Dr. Bates announces that he has inoculated 
patients with *'kine pock" several times, and be- 
lieving it is to be a "reliable remedy," he is pre- 
pared to treat all applicants. Dec. 12, 1820, Dr. 
Paul Thorndike and Dr. H. S. Waterhouse, both 
of Malone, announced that they too were pre- 
pared to inoculate with "kine pock." There 
were no physicians then or at any previous time, 
at either St. Regis or Caughnawaga. You will 
see that Williams could not have been vaccinated 
here." 

That Eleazer was gentlemanly, but absolutely 
moral, there has never been any question. The 
one great test of Indian origin has never been 
applied to him; which is appetite for strong 
drink. No Indian can resist it. All are over- 
whelmed by it. It was the curse of the mission 
Indian. "The Indian is good for nothing when 
he can get strong water," says Chief John 
Metoxen. Eleazer Williams did not drink, nor 
crave liquor. Neither did he smoke, which was 
a constant Indian pastime. 

He wrote the following letter, September 21, 
1848, which is among the very few he ever wrote 
referring to this subject. It is addressed to 
Pierre Bernard Grignon of Green Bay, and was 
recently destroyed by the burning of the David 
Grignon place. 
"Dear Bernard" — 

The intelligence I am now to give you is in 

260 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 



accordance with the hints I gave you in our last 
interview, which now prove too true. Am I the 
child of the most unfortunate parents? A descen- 
dant from one of the most unhappy potentates of 
Europe? The secret commissioners from Fr — 
have in a great measure confirmed it. Oh, the 
unhappy and cruel fate of parents! Can you 
wonder, my friend, I am in distress, yea agony. 
The news has seized me with such a poignant 
grief and sorrow as it would require with the 
tongue of an angel, and the pen of a ready writer 
to describe my feelings. When all this affair 
will end, God only knows. Tremendous scenes 
maybe before me or it will end in peaceful and 
calm weather ****." 



•^t(? 



261 



XXII 

THE FORTUNES OF A MISSIONARY. 

ABOUT 1849 or 50, Eleazer Williams took 
up missionary work at Hogansburg- the 
white town of the St. Reg-is Indians in 
Northern New York. Here he remained until his 
death in 1858, often visiting Washington to urge 
claims of Mary Ann Williams, and Thomas 
Williams his reputed parents, which were incor- 
porated in bills before Congress. He also urg-ed 
his own claims of long standing which he had 
prosecuted before Congress for over thirty years. 
These claims were all just and supported with 
ample testimony, but never paid by Congress, 
except some slight part of them. After the close 
of the war he was paid ten thousand dollars for 
his services as a scout; but all of this money he 
expended for the benefit of the Oneida Indians 
and their schools. In 1857, Rev. Williams 
returned to Wisconsin for a few days, where he 
had not been for over seven years before. In a 
letter to his son John Law^e Williams, dated 
Hogansburg, July 9, 1857, he announced his visit: 
"My dear son — I now prepare, if God willing, 
to visit you and your mother. I shall set out in 
seven or eight days from this. It will take me 
perhaps two weeks if not more before I can reach 

262 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

you, as I must stop at several places on the way. 
Inform mother of it. While there I will be con- 
fined pretty much in the office, as I wish to over- 
haul all my papers to find certain ones which 
may assist in sustaining* our claims upon the 
Government. You must try to g-o down with me 
to Green Bay, and stay while I am there. Can 
you get a one horse wagon, which will be more 
agreeable to me to go down with. My stay must 
be short. My great object is to find some papers, 
which are very important to accompany my own 
claim now pending in the Senate. As for Mary 
Ann Williams' claim, that is abundantly sustained, 
and I have strong hope, it will pass in the next 
session of Congress. On my arrival at Milwau- 
kee, I will write you and let you know the day I 
will reach you. Have all in readiness for the 
journey that we may be in motion the next day 
after my arrival. This business has already 
been very expensive to me, but hopes of getting 
a little sum, has prompted me to continue in my 
application. My health is much better than it 
has been, and I hope by the blessing of heaven 
to reach you safe. Remember me kindly to 
your family. In haste, 

"Your affectionate father, 
Eleazer Williams." 
Rev. William's arrived in Oshkosh by boat 
from Fond du Lac, the last days of July, and 
took boat up Fox and Wolf rivers to Winneconne 

263 



PRINCE OR CR E O L E 

where he remained one night only with his son 
John who was living" on a farm that joined the 
edge of the village. He had been married in 
1851; but his wife and George, their five year old 
son, now saw "father" Williams, as they affec- 
tionately speak of him, for the first, last and only 
time, on this short visit. As all America was at 
this time full of the story of Rev. Williams royal 
rights, wherever he went, he was seen by 
alleyes. Mrs. Washburn traveling on the boat 
to Fond du Lac was called out of the cabin by 
her husband, Judge Geo. W. Washburn of Osh- 
kosh to see the Lost Prince, and Mrs. Theodore 
Conkey saw him on the same journey. Rev. 
Williams made a hurried visit to his old home, 
Little Kaukauna, to visit his wife and examine 
his papers. The latter were in a little mission 
house or chapel, the first protestant church in 
Wisconsin, now used for his office. He soon 
found the documents for which he was in search, 
and returned to Hogansburg. His wife and 
western friends saw him on this visit for the last 
time. He never returned and died about one year 
afterward. 

Upon his return he wrote the following letter 
to his son — 

"Hogansburg, Aug. 25th., 1857. 
"Dear Son:— 

I reached this place on Tuesday in the follow- 
ing week after leaving you. I stayed over night 

264 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

at Racine and saw Mr. Emerson, who informed me 
in the purchase he made of the Kakalin tract 
from Mr. Lawrence that there was no written 
provision made for your mother's holding- the 
place where she is now, only verbally — that is, 
during" the pleasure of the owner. Now this is a 
hard case. I will, however, make one more effort 
to get this into a different shape. I am preparing 
now, my papers to repair to Boston and place 
them before some of the eminent lawyers there 
for their opinion. Mr. Lawrence has certainly 
committed himself in one of his letters to me, 
which does show, that he did not consider him- 
self to be the owner of the whole estate. The 
result of my journey you may expect to hear. I 
was highly gratified in my visit to your place to 
find you to be in a prosperous state as to worldly 
matters. 

I find your place or farm above is considered 
to be valuable. It may be to your advantag-e 
after all to dispose of it. Still it is a kind, 
venerable place. There is no place I have been 
taken up with so much, as Martin's place. If I 
were to select a place of private residence in 
Wisconsin, it would be there. I wish you would 
examine the land and the little island opposite 
to it. Should I obtain from the g"overnment a 
little sum, I should be very apt to purchase of 
the above place. 

Your present position and connected as you are 

265 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

with that liquor store, it is far from pleasing to 
your wife, as well as myself. I hope you will dis- 
connect yourself from it as soon as may be con- 
venient. It is not for your reputation as a 
reputable young- g^entleman, to be in that position. 
I am also preparing* for my Washing-ton compaig"n 
in next session of Cong-ress. ' ' 

'* Yours truly, 

E. Williams." 
The references in the above letter to his lost 
estate, closed the final strug-g-le to retain his 
princely landed property, worth now a million 
dollars. This estate lay on the west bank of the 
Fox River, six miles south of DePere, at a country 
location since known as Little Kaukauna, from 
the name of the rapids in the river, and now the 
steam railway station; and interurban street car 
station; and post office of Little Rapids. The 
lands were in his day mostly a wilderness thickly 
grown with oak, maple, elm and pine, all suitable 
for saw log-s, which have been cut away at great 
profit, leaving the farm lands now occupied by 
numerous extensive and rich farms; improved by 
highways, fences and grand farm buildings, and 
pleasant country homes. This noble woodland 
estate, was originally three hundred and fifty 
chains north and south along the river, and two 
hundred and fifty chains westerly inland, contain- 
ing 8750 acres, about two miles of the finest lands 
the sun ever shone upon; high and self drained. 



?r 


H 


tr 


in 


ir. 


w 


h 


O 




w 




t^ 






i 


td 


1-1 


M 


p 


r* 




n 


n 


^ 




^ 


cr 


M 


1 


M 






*Tl 


> 


n 


g 




Ol 


O 






ffi 





O 




w 


w 




w 






PRINCE OR CREOLE 

This beautiful forest had been the hunting- ground 
of the Jourdain family, expressly reserved to 
them by their Menomonee Indian connection in 
the cession to the New York Indians; and to 
avoid future doubt the lands were made over to 
"Magdeline Williams," two years after her mar- 
riage to Rev. Eleazer Williams, on August 22, 
1825, by a formal deed signed by six of *'The 
chiefs, warriors and head men of the Menomonee 
nation of Indians." The property covered on 
the river front a valuable hydraulic power. By 
the treaty of 1838 made with the government by 
the Menomonee, the grant was confirmed to Elea- 
zer Williams, and the Patent duly issued from the 
President of the United States. 

On the bank of the river on this estate. Rev. 
Mr. Williams, built a log house and outbuildings. 
His office was the old log cabin originally erected 
as the first protestant church in Wisconsin, and 
stood near the dwelling. The New York Indians 
at first located upon this charming property and 
the location of his home was to have been the 
seat of the western Indian empire, so long the 
dream of statesmen and philanthropists. From 
the high bank of the river at his home, the pros- 
pect is the grandest on the beautiful river, which 
at this place is nearly a mile wide, with Black 
Bird Island in the mid channel. The old log 
cabin chapel of early days rotted down and dis- 
appeared long ago. The old log cabin home has 

267 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

been rebuilt. Only sixty five acres still remain 
with the old house, the last relic of a princely 
domain. 

The woodland of those days was of little profit 
to Rev. Eleazer Williams, and his missionary 
income was uncertain and very small. He strug- 
gled against financial ruin all his life. The store 
bill with the trader was constantly growing 
larger with small prospect of being paid. Per- 
haps he was like many another who have given 
their life to the good they could do among the 
humble, not a good manager. His bills at Mr. 
Whitney's ran up to twelve hundred dollars, and 
on June 10, 1840, Mr. Daniel Whitney recovered a 
judgment against Williams for $1285.03. Rev. Mr. 
Williams was in Boston and mentioned his 
troubles. He was advised to see Mr. Amos 
Lawrence, who agreed to buy the judgment and 
in settlement to take half the lands, which had 
been surveyed at 4800 acres, and leave Mr. 
Williams with the other half clear. It had 
always been understood that half the land was 
the property of Mrs. Williams. This agreement 
was not carried out, we suppose because Rev. Mr. 
Williams was a better preacher than lawyer, and 
on April 25, 1842 the entire estate was sold by 
the judgment and all passed out of the hands of 
both Rev. Mr. Williams and his good wife. Mrs. 
Williams purchased the sixty five acres about the 
house and held it all her life, as her homestead 

268 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

and willed it to Josephine Penney Phillips, the 
daughter of her old and faithful Indian servant, 
"Nan." 

That Rev. Mr. Williams is right in his conten- 
tion, that Amos Lawrence did not keep faith with 
him in the purchase of the judgment and sale of 
the whole 4800 acres of rich lands for a $1200.00 
judgment, is evidenced in the one fact that 
Lawrence obtained the land for twenty-five cents 
an acre, which was worth then at government 
price six thousand dollars, and by actual value, 
one hundred thousand dollars, and now worth 
nearly a million dollars, and on which there is a 
water power worth fifty thousand dollars. Amos 
Lawrence was ashamed of his own act, and con- 
tinued a negotiation to make Rev. Mr. Williams 
happy in being plucked even to the very day of 
his death, fifteen years afterward. As late as 
1857, Col. H. E. Eastman acting as agent for 
Lawrence, approached John La we Williams to 
purchase the claim of Eleazer Williams in the 
lands sold away from him by this judgment. Of 
this Eleazer writes: 

'^It was doubtful with me when you informed 
me, that crafty man (Eastman) would attempt 
to purchase a property which he has heretofore 
considered was conveyed by us to Mr. Lawrence. " 
The next year Rev. Mr. Williams agreedwith Col. 
Miller of Oshkosh to give him half of his half of 
the land if he would recover it, and Miller 

269 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

proposed to Lawrence to refer the subject to 
arbitration, but nothing ever came of it. This 
splendid estate was lost to Williams, because he 
placed too much confidence in the honesty of 
others. I have read over a g^reat many unpub- 
lished letters of Eleazer Williams, and much that 
has been published of him, and must confess that 
I have yet to find a single act of dishonesty on 
his part, though some of his enemies have bit- 
terly denounced him. Because of his poverty we 
have shown he lost a great fortune in land, on a 
judgment obtained for a store bill. He was 
obliged to remain in the east the last ten years 
of his life, while urging Congress to pay his just 
claims, because he had no money to pay traveling 
expenses, and only got home once during that 
time. "I have made several attempts to go to 
you, when I would, I failed for want of means for 
such a journey, " he writes home in January, 1857. 
The New York world in 1867 gave credence to 
a tale from Canada, that Rev. Eleazer Williams 
had collected for the Caughnawaga tribe, an 
annuity from 1812 to 1820; but had not paid it 
over to the Indians. This charge was made forty 
seven years after the occurrence, and from rumor; 
but is discredited very effectually by the fact 
that the St. Regis Indians acknowledged their 
indebtedness to Williams, not that he owes them. 
Under date of January 21, 1858, Rev. Mr. Williams 
writes his son John: ''There are some things 

270 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

which I wish to inform you; that is, that the St. 
Reg-is Indians are indebted to me two th ousand 
dollars, and for which I have a regular document, 
sig"ned by sixteen of them. This paper is depos- 
ited by me in the county clerk's office at Malone 
for safe keeping, and I have a certificate of such 
deposit. I cannot commence suit as there is no 
special law. To remedy this something may be 
done by the present legislature." He died Aug- 
ust 28, 1858, in great poverty, having dwelt 
mostly alone in a neat cottage erected by friends 
after the publications which excited general 
interest. ' 'His household presented an aspect of 
cheerless desolation, without a ray of comfort or 
genial spark of home life. " "His neatly finished 
rooms, had neither carpet, curtains or furniture 
save a scanty supply of broken chairs and tables; 
boxes filled with books lay stored in corners." 
All "left upon the visitors an oppressive feeling 
of homeless solitude, that it was impossible to 
efface from the memory." "The occupant, his 
family a thousand miles away, his hopes and 
ambitions turned to decay and ashes, crept scarce 
honored into a lonely grave," over which by the 
bounty of his son John, a monument was erected. 
On the monument there is cut a masonic emblem 
of the square and compass. In September 2, 
1824, the Menomonee Lodge was instituted in 
Fort Howard, and ceased to exist in 1830, and 
its records cannot now be found; but a month 

271 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

after the establishment of this lodge, Hev. 
Eleazer Williams made application for member- 
ship as shown by the documents now in the His- 
torical Society at Madison. There is no doubt 
he was admitted. Aurora Lodge No. 383 of 
Masons took charge of the funeral at Hogansburg, 
NY. 

After the story of Rev. Mr. Williams had been 
widely read, a purse was made up in England to 
build him a frame church and school at Hogans- 
burg scarcely completed when he died. This 
structure is now used as a hay barn. While 
he resided in the east, his son John frequently 
visited him, and while he was sick he went to see 
him; but was not there when he died. He went 
there with his wife as soon as he heard of his 
death, and left money with a merchant for the 
stone, who kindly had it erected. Mrs. John L. 
Williams informs the writer that the house was 
empty, someone had carried off all his effects. 
Ten years after his death, inl867. Rev. Mr. Robert- 
son then at Malone, asked for letters of adminis- 
tration, which were issued to him, and he took 
possession of what papers and effects he could 
discover. His inventory is on file in Franklin 
County Court House, Malone, New York. He 
was subsequently Bishop of Missouri and his 
widow writes me she has no pictures of Williams. 
No administration was ever had on his estate in 
Wisconsin. 

272 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

There is at Appleton a small blank book in 
possession of Miss Anna L. Tenneywith "Eleazer 
Williams" stamped all over the cover, which 
contains the Hymn: ''Great God! with wonder and 
with praise, ' ' translated into the Indian tong-ue by 
Rev. Mr. Williams, page 281. There are nine 
verses, the first one beg"ins with — "Ni ish tsi ni sia 
ta no ran," etc. It is possible, none can read his 
numerous Indian translations and works, now 
almost a dead language; but some where, if not 
now, some day, the descendants of those who 
were benefited by his labors will sing to him, 
"Great God! with wonder and with praise." 

A few years ago when James Hammond Trum- 
bull died, no one remained in all the world who 
could read the Bible which Rev. John Eliot 
translated into the Indian tongue. Yet his work 
will live forever. Only last summer an Oneida 
Indian was ordained a deacon, and he was a 
descendant of those to whom Rev. Mr. Williams 
preached. When John Wesley died it was said 
he left a silver spoon, a teapot, and the Metho- 
dist church. Those whose mission is in the 
nobler walks of life, have little time or inclination 
to amass wealth. Their riches are in their good 
works. As a missionary. Rev. Eleazer Williams 
met with the most wonderful success that ever 
followed the labor of any man among savages. 

While there is much of attractive interest and 
a flash of romance in the gossip which seeks to 

273 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

discover the lost King-, in the person of Rev. 
Eleazer Williams, yet it is only gossip or the 
evidence which a court would dignify by the 
name of hearsay evidence and thus inadmisable; 
and the case would be dismissed without going 
to the jury. However, there is a court of public 
opinion, whose rules of evidence are more elastic. 
This court will ever discover in each particular 
of this half century old, twice told tale, themes 
of animated discussion which though tinged with 
a mixture of romance and fact will keep it alive 
in perennial freshness, a never ending story as 
strong as holy writ, full of mystery and expecta- 
tion of still undiscovered facts. At the beginning 
of our study of the subject, we held a different 
view and the examination of the evidence has led 
us to believe Eleazer Williams to be Louis XVII, 
though our only purpose has been to present in a 
connected history, the entire story of Louis XVII 
the uncrowned King of Prance, whose sad story 
will out live the ages. If there was positive 
proof on the identity of any of the stories of the 
end of the dear child whom Marie Antoinette so 
fondly loved, there would be no mystery. We 
believe an impartial unbiased person must find 
from the testimony that the Little King was 
taken alive from the Temple, and to America 
into northern New York, into the family of the 
Mohawk Indian whom the whites called Thomas 
Williams, named by his French conductors 

274 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Lazare, and afterwards became the missionary, 
whose fiery eloquence swept a whole tribe of 
heathens into the arms of the church. He was 
not a Creole, but was a Prince. 



4? 



275 



XXIII 

FAMIT.Y AND DESCENDANTS. 

THE wife of Eleazer Williams, was named by 
her parents, Mary Mag-dalene, she was born 
in 1809, at Green Bay of French father; and 
mother, half French and half Menomonee. After 
their marriage when she was fourteen years of 
age they repaired to their new house at their 
forest estate at Little Kaukauna, where she 
resided the rest of her life except a few years 
when they leased the home. Here were born to 
them three children. Two skirls died in infancy, 
one in the fall of 1841. Their son John Lawe 
Williams, named for the rich trader of Green Bay, 
was born at their forest home, January 1, 1825. 
At her confirmation in the famous Trinity Church 
on Broadway in New York City by Bishop 
Hobart he gave her the name of Mary Hobart 
Williams, which she bore ever after. She lived 
twenty eight years after the death of her husband, 
and died in her home, July 22, 1886, and was 
buried in Woodlawn Cemetery (protestant) at 
Green Bay. As described by visitors, "her 
house was as neat as wax. " In her old age much 
of her time was spent sitting on a broad sofa 
near the ancient fireplace. She could speak 
French very well, and was versed in English 
which she easily read and wrote. Her quaint 
diary was written in a well, rounded perfect 
English scrip. It was a record of the country 
side for generations, making note of every birth, 

276 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

death, marriage, or other events; also the name 
and date of every boat which passed her window. 
It even gave Indian names to every cow and 
animal on the premises, and noted the offspring- 
with a name leady at hand, giving the day of the 
month and year of its birth. Some of these were 
kept in old account books, until filled. One of 
them is a store pass book utilized for the purpose. 
She is described as a ' 'neighborly, kindly hand- 
some old lady." 

One week before her death she made her will, 
which was witnessed, by Dr. F. L. Lewis and 
Mr. Van Buren Brownley, wherein she is des- 
cribed as Mary Hobart Williams, ''widow of the 
late Rev. Eleazer Williams, popularly known as 
the alleged Dauphin, son of Louis XVI, King of 
France." It gives to Hon. Morgan L. Martin all 
her books, manuscripts, and the oil portrait of 
her husband, in trust to sell and pay the proceeds 
to her grandson George Williams; the balance of 
her property she bequeathed to Josephine Penney 
who was born in her house, with the condition 
that she care for her mother Nan, during her 
life. Written on the will was a memoranda: "I 
wish to be buried in Woodlawn Cemetery. That 
my finger ring be given to Mrs. Fay, daughter of 
Mrs. Dequedre; to be buried with my silk dress, 
and have on the ear rings in the tin box in the 
bureau." By this will Josephine Penney came 
into possession of the old Williams homestead, 

277 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

consisting now of sixty- five acres of land and 
appraised as valued at $975.00. The personal 
property consisting- of farm implements, stock, 
and household furniture was appraised at $252.20. 
The books were not listed in the records of Pro- 
bate, but the memoranda on file show that a few 
of the books were sold for $12.25; the balance, 
mostly sermons sold through West book Co., of 
Milwaukee for $5.00; and that the oil painting 
of Rev. Mr. Williams by Catlin was taken by the 
the Wisconsin Historical Society for $50.00. The 
debts amounting to $65.65, being expenses of last 
sickness and burial, were paid from the sale of 
effects. 

A narrative of Mother Williams is not complete 
without mention of the faithful Indian servant, 
whom all visitors saw at their home. Her name 
was Mary Jane Garrety, nic named by John 
Williams, ' 'Nan. ' ' She was a Menomonee, except 
the slight strain of white blood from her grand- 
mother who was a captive white child married 
to a Menomonee Indian. Nan was born Septem- 
ber, 1821, and died twelve years after her mistress, 
March 29, 1898, and was buried three miles from 
the old Homestead, at Schneiderville, where her 
daughter Josephine has erected a monument for 
her. At a very early age she came to mother 
Williams and remained there all her life, a faithful 
servant on whom mother Williams depended for 
most of the work. 

278 




Mr, George Williams, 1904 

The last of the Bourbons, and only rightful claimant to the French throne 
From a recent photograph — Grandson of Eleazer Williams. 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

In 1853, Nan married Andrew Penney an indigent 
Frenchman, who deserted her before her child 
was born. Five years before this John Lawe 
Williams had moved onto his farm atWinneconne, 
and Rev. Eleazer Williams was constantly 
engaged at Washington and the east, leaving 
Mother Williams at home with Nan as her only 
companion. When Nan's child Josphine, was 
born, she also formed part of the household at 
home after school hours to help on the farm. 
After Mother William's death, Josephine became 
owner of the old Williams homestead as stated 
by the devise of Mrs. Williams, and still owns 
the property. The whole Williams household, 
even to Nan, believed that Rev. Mr. Williams was 
the legitimate King of France. His son John, his 
son's widow, and their son George, firmly believed 
the story. 

DESCENDANTS. 

John Lawe Williams, only son of Eleazer Will- 
iams, was born in G-reen Bay, January 1, 1825; 
where he was educated and remained until Aug- 
ust 7, 1849, when he purchased a farm in Winne- 
conne and moved onto it. When sixteen years of 
age he traveled east with his father as related in 
another place, and met the Prince de Joinville at 
the same time with his father when returning 
home. When he was twenty-six years of age, he 
married, December 26, 1851, at Fond du Lac, Miss 
Jane Pattison Enery who was born December 26, 

279 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

1836. Her father and mother were born in Ire- 
land, where Paul Enery her father was educated 
for the priesthood, but disliking" this, emig-rated 
to Fredericton, New Brunswick, and taught 
school, and married. There were seven children 
born to them, of whom Mrs. S. R. Clark, Mrs. 
Matt Hasbrouck, and widow of John Lawe Will- 
iams are now living in Oshkosh. Mrs. Judge 
George Gary was a daughter. Mr.. C. W. Stribley 
has in his possession the diary kept by John L. 
Williams in 1841, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7. 

John Lawe Williams sold his farm and resided 
in Oshkosh, which was his home until his death. 
He was fatally injured while in the woods at 
Tigerton, and died the next day, September 22, 
1883. Rev. F. R. Haff, Episcopal rector con- 
ducted the service at the home on Mount Vernon 
street in Oshkosh, and Colonel Gabe Bouck at 
the grave in the Masonic Cemetery, acted as 
Grand Master of the Masonic order which had 
charge of the funeral. 

Their three children were, George, Louis and 
Eugene; the last two were born in Oshkosh and 
are not now living. George Williams, their old- 
est child was born at Winneconne, November 8, 
1852. He now resides in St. Louis, has been mar- 
ried since 1884, but no children have been born to 
them, so that this Bourbon line will end with 
George Williams the only true King of France 
now living; the last of the Bourbons. 

280 




^__ 



William's Brass Candle and Memoranda 

Book page 273, Miss Anna L. Tenney collection, Appleton, from her 
own kodak. 



XXIV 

GOLD, SILVER, BRASS AND CHINA. 

ELEAZER WILLIAMS was the recipient o 
many rich gifts of g"old, silver, and brass, as 
well as books. I cannot trace the present 
possessor of the gold cross and star of the order of 
St. Louis, which is illustrated on the sash in the 
picture page 154, and which he says: ''I received 
from the Indian family of which I supposed my- 
self a member," in writing to Dr. Stephen W. 
Williams, September 23, 1853. Some one sent 
him an oil painting of Louis XVI on wood, which 
as navigation had closed he left at Mr. Brown's 
hotel in Sheboygan, about fifty-five years ago 
and never called for it. It is still in possession 
of Mrs. L. H. Jones, their daughter, who reports 
it as too dark by age for photographing. Some 
one gave him a picture of Louis XVIII, which 
was said to resemble Rev. Mr. Williams. 

Some one in France sent to Eleazer Williams a 
case containing a number of pieces of gold 
jewelry, supposed to have been worn by Marie 
Antoinette, and with them were two engravings 
executed in Prance, cabinet size, one of Louis 
XVI, and one of Marie Antoinette, both with 
square, black stucco frames. The jewelry was 
retained by mother Williams, who gave the royal 

281 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

portraits to her son, John L. Williams, and his 
widow, still has them in her parlor at Oshkosh. 
I do not know the present ownership of the 
jewelry. In 1832, George Catlin painted in oil the 
portrait of Rev. Eleazer Williams. For fifty-five 
years this painting adorned the walls of the log 
cabin home of Rev. Mr.Williamsonthebankof the 
Fox River. For nearly thirty years Mother 
Williams kept those portraites of King Louis 
XVI, and Marie Antoinette, hanging upon either 
side of the oil painting of her husband. In 1887 
the Historical Society of Madison, came into pos- 
session of the oil painting by purchase for the 
sum of fifty dollars, from Morgan L. Martin, 
administrator of the estate of Mary Hobart 
Williams. 

Hearing the story of Eleazer Williams, a gentle 
lady of Northampton, Mass., presented him with 
a beautiful brocade silk dress, with a train twelve 
feet long. The note accompanying the gift was 
as follows : ' 'Presented to Rev. Eleazer Williams, 
with respectful regards of Mrs. Edward Clark of 
Northampton. Being in England some years 
since, I had an opportunity there to purchase 
this dress, once worn by Queen Marie Antoinette, 
of France. It had been bought at the court by a 
gentleman attached at that time to our embassy. 
I was informed that the dresses once worn by the 
queen, were afterward distributed among the 
ladies of the Court, who would sometimes dispose 

282 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

of them in this manner at auction. Round Hill, 
Northampton, Mass., Jan. 3,1851." Rev. Mr. Wil- 
liams kept this old faded silk g-own by him during- 
the remainder of his life, and ten years after his 
death it was listed in the Rev. Robertson inven- 
tory of William's effects at ten dollars, and finally 
cut into small pieces and sold as souvenirs, for 
the benefit of the estate. Mary E. Seaver of 
Malone recalls the dress as, ''brocade white satin 
and small designs colored like Dresden decora- 
tions." Mrs. E. W. Knowlton of Malone has a 
fragment in her possession. The pair of octag-on 
silver candlesticks, given to John L. Williams by 
his mother, were intended by him for the Histori- 
cal Society of Madison and he consulted Judge 
Washburn as to the method of making the gift, 
but in the meantime they were left by him in the 
Masonic Lodge at Oshkosh, where they were 
destroyed in the "Great fire," April 28, 1875, 
which consumed the lodge, and all its contents 
except some of the records, and swept over the 
best part of the city. A brass candlestick was 
obtained at the old homestead by Miss Anna L. 
Tenney, who still retains it at her home in Apple- 
ton (page 281). A royal set of brass andirons, 
exquisitely shaped and perhaps unequalled in 
beauty by any other ever in the west, were pur- 
chased of the administration of mother Williams 
estate,. by Mrs. C. F. Dutton of Wausaukee. A 
china teapot, sugar bowl and cream pitcher pink 

283 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

lustre are in the collection of Hon. A. J. Reid of 
Appleton (pag-e 283) . The four beveled edg-e, solid 
wood bottom, spindle back, turned leg" chairs, 
purchased by Eleazer Williams from Lieutenant 
John W. Cotton of Fort Howard, in 1825, are still 
at the old homestead, except one, which many 
years ago came into possession of Judge Morgan 
L. Martin, who had the top of the side spindles 
and the legs tipped with brass, the seat uphol- 
stered, and the body stained mahogany. It is 
still at his old homestead. The arm chair with the 
leathern cushion used by Rev. Mr. Williams in his 
chapel office is still at the old homestead, having 
survived the office. The old hair deer skin trunk, 
iron bound, which carried the important papers, 
books, sermons and wardrobe of the uncrowned 
king, up and down the land for many years, 
finally rejected and dumped among the rubbish in 
the barn at the old home, was resurrected from 
destruction by Mr. John C. Mitchell of Kaukauna. 
It has the initials E. W., in large bold capitals on 
the cover, made of brass covered sadler nails. 
The sword carried by Williams through the war 
of 1812, as a general of scouts, is in possession of 
the widow of John L. Williams at Oshkosh; and 
the brass eagle from the flagstaff of his command 
is owned by Dr. H. B. Kendall at Menasha. Mrs. 
Chester W. Smith of Kilbourn, Wis., mentions 
a jewelled snuff box of Rev. Mr. Williams which 
I cannot locate, and a gold snuff box the gift of 

284 



^^ 



^ P 




PRINCE OR CREOLE 

the Prince de Joinville is mentioned by Mr. Par- 
son, (see appendix V). Mrs. John L. Williams 
writes me: "I thought the uniform was in the 
Historical Library rooms at Madison. The last 
time I saw it, it was in a very bad condition, 
smoke stained and moth eaten, so was the flag. 
Both looked as if they had seen hard service." 
But none of these can be found. "I do not dis- 
cover in our museum any relics of Eleazer Wil- 
liams, save the oil painting; the neck band which 
he wore during the period of his ministry; a cop- 
per kettle; and a great many manuscripts written 
by him; his diary, and numerous sermons copied 
by him into the Oneida language," writes Dr. 
Reuben G. Thwaites, Secretary of the Historical 
Society. The large field glass carried by him 
through the war, and his spurs are still at the old 
homestead, owned by Mary Phillips, daughter of 
Josephine. A dozen silver spoons given by Mother 
Williams as a post mortem gift to Dr. H. B. Ken- 
dall of Menasha, he still retains; and a sterling 
silver spoon once owned by Williams is at the 
library in Menasha. 

Mrs. Susan Hough, of Green Bay, has an im- 
mense china platter, old blue colonial, given to 
her by Mother Williams. But Mrs. Francis Law- 
ton Dunham, of DePere has the largest and finest 
collection of Williams china, silver, pewter and 
wooden designs, anywhere to be seen. She has 
twenty-two pieces of china, four Sheffield plates 

285 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

and a quantity of wooden pieces, besides the 
eighty books mentioned in another place. The 
china consists of one large soup tureen, old blue 
Ridgway; soup plate, B. and E. W. Pekin, Pearl 
china incised; light blue plate, pearl china, 
(Page 285); four blue plates and octagon pitcher 
to match; large soup plate, large plate, sugar 
bowl, teapot and three cups and saucers all to 
match, with blue corner grapes, chelsea ware 
N. S. O., (Page 286); a beautiful pink lustre cup 
and saucer; two toy cups and saucers. Also a 
low delft cup, yellow white lining, which Nan said 
was Rev. Mr. William's shaving mug (Page 285). 
Of the Sheffield plate, there are two decanter 
stands, which Nan says were used by Williams to 
pass the bread at the communion; a dinner castor 
with six bottles; a low plate warmer with lead 
feet, has an iron weight to heat. There is also 
a queer steel knife with wood handle. There are 
carved moulds for maple sugar, one the shape of 
a beaver, one of bear's paw and one round. These 
were said to be great treasures among the natives 
and descended from generation to generation, 
and possibly belonged to Moth er Williams. There 
is also a long wooden ladel to stir the maple 
sugar, and a small mocock of birch bark to con- 
tain the sugar. 

Dr. H. B. Tanner of Kaukauna, has several let- 
ters written by Eleazer Williams. There is a 
pink luster cup and saucer in possession of Mrs. 

286 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Barton L. Parker of Green Bay; and an exquisitely- 
carved bellows with which Eleazer Williams 
quickened the log- fire of the old fire place now 
owned by Mrs. Eugene Smith of DePere. Mrs. 
Edwin Moore, has a pitcher of blue and cream 
stone ware decorated with figures in relief. 
Numerous other effects of Rev. Mr. Williams are 
still cherished among the homes of the Fox River 
Valley too numerous to detail. 



4? 



287 



XXV 

RARE LIBRARY OF ELEAZER WILLIAMS. 

Rev. Eleazer Williams possessed a rich library 
of rare and valuable books. He had the largest 
library anywhere in the west in his day, with 
possibly the exception of the rare Percival col- 
lection. From the information I gather of the 
Williams library it must have contained more than 
two thousand volumes. When Rev. Mr. Robert- 
son made his inventory now on file in Malone, New 
York, he found in Hogansburg- over twelve hun- 
dred books. But a great many remained at his 
home inLittle Kaukauna. He frequently bartered 
his books at Green Bay for a little money. In this 
manner Judge Martin came to possess some of 
the rarest books in his collection. The books are 
widely scattered. The historical Library at Mad- 
ison reports no books from this library. The 
book firm of H. H. West & Company, Milwaukee, 
purchased a quantity in 1888, but cannot trace 
them now. At the time of his death, in his home- 
stead at Hogansburg, there were unopened boxes 
of books piled in the room; but a few weeks after 
the event when his son John Lawe Williams with 
his wife, visited Hogansburg to look after his 
affairs, the house was empty. He dearly loved 
his books. It will be noticed in the partial list 

288 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

given below their deep religious character out 
ranks all other subjects. 

In possession of Mrs. John Lawe Williams, 
Oshkosh: Christ our Life, Angus; The Hugenots^ 
2 Vol. 1843; Jons tone's Chemistry; View of the 
United States, published 1820; North America, Imlay, 
1797;^ Tour of New York to Detroit, 1819; Manual 
of Family Prayers, Bishop Blomfields, 1831; Horace 
Paulinal, William Paley, 1805; Hebrew Prophet, 
1837; French Bevolution, M. A. Thiers, 2 Vol, 1843. 
Some of the above books have the name "E. 
Williams' ' in lead pencil. Williard's United States, 
N. Y., 1842; Memoirs of Napoleon, M. de Bour- 
rienne, 1835; Life of Lafayette, S. Andrus and son, 
1847; Burgoyne's Campaign, Charles Neilson, Al- 
bany, 1844; Life of Jefferson, William Linn, Ithaca, 
1843; Life of KirUand, Lathrop, Boston, 1848; 
Whately on St. Paul, N. Y. 1831; The Young Chris- 
tian, Jacob Abbott, Boston; Life of Rev. James 
Hervey, Hamilton, 1848; Oxford Theology, Venburg 
Livingston, N. Y. 1841; The Parish Library, N. Y. 
10 Vols. 1832; Home Education, Isaac Taylor, N. Y., 
1838; Yamayden, a tale of the wars of King Phillip, 
N. Y. 1820; The Backwoods of Canada, Charles 
Knight, 1832; Elegant Extracts, 1816; Haskins As- 
tronomy, 1841, with writing on fly-leaf — "Eev. E. 
Williams, with regards of the author, Buffalo, 
June 21, 1841; Lacon or Many Things in few words. 
Rev. C. C. Colton, N. Y. 1821; a total of 38 
Volumes. 

289 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

In possession of Judge E. G. Ellis of Green 
Bay: "I bought of Judge Martin, Blair's Lectures 
and Murray's Reader. ' ' 

In possession of George Utz, cashier National 
Bank, Menasha, who purchased them of Judge 
Martin for fifty cents — Price's Sermons^ London, 
1787; Hist, of Christianity^ Priestly, Boston, 1797; 
a bound volume made up of pamphlets of funeral 
sermons. 

Owned by Miss Deborah B. Martin, Green Bay: 
Hennepin, 1698. This is an original published in 
French in Amsterdam. Written on inside — ''M. 
L. Martin, 1831." Journal Eistoreque. by Joutel, 
Paris, 1713. This is an original in French; 
written inside in French; ''Owned by the Aca- 
demy at Quebec 1778. " 

History of New France, De Charlevoix,. Paris, 
1745, 8 volumes. This is an original published in 
French. 

The book of Common Prayer, etc., Mark Baskett 
1766. It is 16 inches long, 10 inches wide and one 
and a half inches thick. On the fly leaf there 
is written infilne, large letters, ''Presented by 
Rector, Wardens and vestry of King's Chapel 
in Boston to Reverend Mr. Williams, Pastor of 
the Oneidas, November, 1816." 

Owned by Mr. M. D. Kimball, Milwaukee: 
Senecas Morals by Roger L. Estrange Knt. 15th. ed. 
London, 1746. Written inside— "M. D. Kimball, 
Green Bay, August 14, 1892," who received it 

290 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

from his sister, who inscribed on fore cover, "I 
secured this volume from 'Old Nan' for many- 
years servant in the home of Eleazer Williams. 
She still lives at the old mission house at Little 
Kaukauna and firmly believes him to have been 
the Lost Dauphin," sgd. "Sara Sale." 

Owned by Miss Anna L. Tenney, Appleton — 
Sword's Pocket Almanac, 1824, New York; Ameri- 
can Spelling book, Noah Webster, Hartford, 1821, 
written on the fly leaf: "John Williams, Green 
Bay;" Flint's Dictionary, Hartford, 1806; Paley's 
Christianity, New York, 1814, written on the cover, 
"E. Williams;" Christian Monitor, No. 18, 1811. 
On the fly leaf is written— "A. G. Ellis; New Tes- 
tament, New York, 1830, Cover has printed label 
— "Female Bible and Prayer book society, St. 
John's Church, Canandaiqua;" Classical letters; 
London, 1817; Christian Monitor; History oi Jesuits, 
History o;f Mass., Boston 1831; Sermons by Blair, 3d 
vol. Phil. 1794, written on fly leaf, "from Mrs. 
Sarah Patten, Hartford, Conn. 1826;" The Psalter 
of David, with canticle painted for chanting. 
Miss Tenney has given away the last four books. 
In possession of Miss Agnes L. D wight, Appleton: 
Croly on St. John, Philadelphia, 1827. 

In possession of William W. Wight, Milwau- 
kee: Episcopal Prayer Book, in French language, 
New York 1803; Practical Discourses, by Rev. 
Daniel Williams, Vol. I., London 1738, on fly leaf: 
"From Eleazer Williams library. Presented to 

291 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Mr. William W. Wight by Francis L. Dunham, 
DePere, Wisconsin, Dec. 3rd, 1903;" Tracts, being- 
a bound volume of polemical sermons; Essays to 
do Good, Cotton Mather, New York, 1815, also at 
head of preface this : "Presented to Miss Catharine 
Nichols, as a testimony of the approbation of her 
affectionate L. Huntley, Hartford, June 10, 1816," 
in the writing of the poetess; The Child's 
Catechism, by Nahum Mower, Montreal, 1809; 
Hymns for Infant Minds, Boston 1812; Nathaniel 
Ames Almanac, 1749, has "William Williams" on 
fly leaf. All the above have same Mrs. Dunham 
presentation as above. 

Owned by P. V. Lawson, Menasha, Wisconsin: 
Extracts from Sc7'iptures, Boston, 1815; EhetoricJc, 
Blair, Concord, 1830; Walks of Usefulness, Campbell, 
N. Y. 1812; Baptist Manual, Phil., 1835; Sacred His- 
tory, Turner, N. Y. 1835; Christian Monitor; Greek 
and English Lexicon^ Bass, London, 1829; System 
of Theology, Livingston, N. Y. 1832; Happiness of 
the Blessed, Mant, Phil., 1833; Constitution of the 
Presbyterian Church, Phil., 1839; Exposition, But- 
ler, about 1820; End of Religious Controversey, Mil- 
ner, Baltimore, 1818. 

Owned by O. E. Clark, Appleton: Juvenile 
Repository, July, 1811; Callto the Unconverted, Baxter, 
1825, on fly leaf; "Mary Battle to Mary Williams, 
Dec. 9, 1841; Geography, by Jedidiah Morse, Bos- 
ton, 1806; Astronomical Almanac, 1784, Hartford; do., 
for 1760, by Nathaniel Ames, Boston. Owned by 

292 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Mrs. Francis Lawton Dunham, DePere: Novum 
Testamentum Graecium^ Dakins, London, 1808; 
Bible, 1808; New Testament, 1812; Jesus Obinadisiwiu, 
Ojanda, A King, Paris 1837; Gospel St. Mathew, in 
Mohawk language, presented to Rev. E. Williams 
by Joseph W. Powless, Dec. 6, 1842, missionary 
to Onandagos; Lenni Lenape, Indian Grammar, 
1816, given to *'Rev. Williams by the American 
Philosophical Society;" Historic Abregsi; Zelotes 
by Cotton Mather, 1717, written on fly leaf "Wil 
liam Williams;" Religious Affections, by Jonathan 
Edwards, Boston, 1824; Duty of Christian^ 1794 
Psalms, by Isaac Watts, Woodstock, Vt. 1824 
written '^presented by Mr. Edward Cook, Hart 
ford, Conn."; The Dairyman^ s Daughter,'^ 1812 
Address to Young Christians; Evangelical Tracts, 24 
of them in all; the four Evangelists by Newcome 
1809; Call to Unconverted, Albany, 1811, presented 
''from Mrs. Sarah Potter, Hartford, Conn., 1826;' 
Weeks preparation for the unconverted, by Bishop 
John Henry Hobart, D. D., "to Mary Hobart WH 
liams from J. H. Hobart;" Christian Religion; WJiole 
duty of man; Jeusuit Juggling, Baxter, N. Y. 1835 
Tryal of a Saving Interest in Christ, Boston, 1701 
"property of Tho. Croswell, 1725," et al; Essays 
to do Good, 1808, Cotton Mather; Christian Monitor 
1807; Popery, 1836, Orations of Cicero, London 1758 
written "David Dickenson book, 1776;" Cookery 
London 1816; Voyage of Anson, round the world 
Dublin, 1819; Juliana Oakley by Mrs. Sherwood 

293 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

The Spy; Works of Henry Fielding, Vol. 14-1819; 
Childs Catechism, French 1819; A Token for Children, 
1795. And many other books on similar subjects 
to the total number of eighty, some bound in 
leather, some in cloth and a number in paper. 

Mr. Charles W. Stribley of Kaukauna, has 
books: Living Manners, Phil., 1822; New Testament, 
1822; Harmony in Greek, 1828; Clergyman's Compan- 
ion Vol. I., 1828; English Grammar^ IngersoU, N. 
Y. 1822; Christian Monitor, contains written "David 
Dickenson 1807; Welch e's Arithmetic, 1834, with 
autograph: *'JohnL. Williams, 1840;" Christian 
Theology 1826; Arithmetic, McDonald, Norwich, 1795. 

Emily V. Keever of Freeport, 111., has a music 
book in which Rev. Mr. Williams wrote simple 
tunes and monosyllable words for his Indian 
converts. 

About the year 1853, Eleazer Williams traveled 
through New England in search of Indian stories 
of experiences of the pioneers for a book he pro- 
posed to write. While at Char] estown, N. H., he 
saw a book containing accounts of white people 
captive among the Indians. As he could not buy 
it, Mr. Robertson gave him his copy. 

Dr. King of Green Bay possessed a great num- 
ber of Williams books. They were great friends. 
Mrs. Kate King Ramsey of Appleton, has one of 
these. Exposition of the Epistle of Hehreivs, 1731, 
Edinburg. He often sold Dr. King his books and 
would then borrow them back in armfuls. 

294 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

Mr. Clinton Stevens of Malone, N. Y., has a 
book from the Williams library; and Mrs. H. A. 
Taylor of Malone has one of his Manuscript Ser- 
mons. Mr. John W. Knapp of Beaver, Penn., has 
a leather bound Volume of Sermons in French dat- 
ing back to 1693 with occasional special notes, 
and on the fly leaf in pencil ''Louis Roi 1707." 

Mrs. Martha Grange of Fort Covington, N. Y., 
has ''Life of the Dauphin,'' given by Rev. Williams 
to her at one of her visits to him during his last 
illness at Hogansburg. He frequently preached 
in their town house to the few Episcopalians at 
Port Covington and while there made his home 
with Richard Grange. ' 'Life of the Dauphin' ' is an 
English translation from the French by Percival, 
rector at Bucks, England, 1838, London. It 
accepts as a fact the death of the Dauphin in the 
Temple. There are numerous led pencil correc- 
tions to the text. 



•!• 



295 



APPENDIX L 

HEARD ELEAZER WILLIAMS PREACH. 

Menasha, Wise, July 18, 1904. 
p. V. Lawson, Esq., 
My Dear Sir:— 

In response to your request that I 
would write you an account of the occasion on 
which I was fortunate enough to see Eleazer 
Williams, I send you the following brief sketch, 
which is true as far as my memory serves me 
after the lapse of many years. In the early 50's 
of the last century (I do not remember the exact 
year) when I was a young girl, I lived in the old 
town of Alexandria, Virginia, and with many 
others was much interested in an article pub- 
lished^ at the time in ^'Putnams if ag^asme, " called 
'"•Have we a Bourbon among us?^^ It impressed me as 
a most remarkable and interesting story of the 
strange vicissitudes in the life of a Bourbon 
prince, and to my mind bore the stamp of truth. 
My father had visited Wisconsin quite often, and 
had taken up government land in several parts 
of this State, and often stopped near Green Bay 
which was the place where the land office was 
located. He was familiar with the region where 
Eleazer Williams lived and had dined with the 
Prince de Joinville during his trip in the north- 

296 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

west, thoug-h of course he had no suspicion of 
the Princes object in coming- to America. I often 
discoursed the mag-azine article I have referred 
to with him, and w^hen we heard that Mr. 
Williams w^as to be in Washington and Alexan- 
dria, we were a g-ood deal excited at the prospect 
of seeing- him. When he arrived he was invited 
to preach in St. Paul's church. It was an even- 
ing service, and the church was crowded with an 
audience, drawn either by interest and no doubt 
curoisity to see the man who was the hero of such 
a romantic and thrilling- story. He was intro- 
duced by the rector simply as the Rev. Mr. 
Eleazer Williams of Wisconsin. The audience 
were of course divided in their ideas about him, 
some scoffed at the story of his royal descent and 
expected to see him an Indian, while others like 
myself believed him to be a Bourbon. When he 
rose in the pulpit in full view of the cong-reg-a- 
tion every doubt as to the Indian blood was re- 
moved. In his appearance he had not as far as 
we could see, a single Indian characteristic. He 
looked at that time between fifty and sixty years 
old. He was g-ray, and I think partially bald, 
with fine eyes, and as I now remember, his face 
rather aquiline features, and some people who 
were familiar with the old Bourbon portrait saw 
in him a strong- resemblance to them. I do not 
remember much about his accent in speaking-, but 
he g-ave us a plain and rather dull sermon, in 

297 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

which if I remember rightly, he made no reference 
to his personal history. After the services were 
over he returned to Washington. In the many 
changes in my life the story passed from my 
mind, and I never heard it again until I came to 
Menasha some twenty years ago. Then my 
husband met a man well known here, whose 
name was Thomas Jourdain, who was a brother- 
in-law of Mr. Williams, and heard the story from 
him. I have always believed in its truth, and it 
is not stranger than other true stories connected 
with royalty. Perhaps at some future day this 
search may be recalled as other historic mysteries 
have been. Yours very truly, 

Sally McCarty Pleasants. 

II 

PRINCE DE JOINVILLE RIDES A LUMBER WAGON TO 
WILLIAMS HOME. 

The following narrative was kindly procured 
for this work by Francis Lawton Dunham (Mrs. 
J. S. Dunham) of DePere, Wisconsin, who "had 
a long and interesting conversation with Mrs. 
Sharpe, taking notes as she related the various 
events, and reading them over to her afterward. 
She was interested and willing to have her recol- 
lection published." Complete narative of Mrs. 
Harriet Stewart Sharpe as given to Mrs. Francis 
Lawton Dunham, of DePere, Dec. 5, 1904: 

298 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

**My father Robert D. Stewart came to De Pere 
in 1836, and built the first house on the west side 
of the Pox River which was built by a white man. 
The original house was near the river, but was 
destroyed and my brother Joseph built his house 
on the same land, but nearer the road. It was 
about one mile from the present bridge in DePere, 
and six miles from Fort Howard or Green Bay. 
I remember perfectly the visit of the Prince de 
Joinville at our house, but cannot remember 
exactly what year it was, (Oct. 1841). I always 
said that ''We had had the honor of entertain- 
ing the Prince de Joinville." He was a young 
man of fine and courtly manner, so elegantly 
dressed and so extremely polite. I do not 
remember how he got to our house, but think some 
one must have brought him up from Green Bay. 
He came from the Astor house on the east side of 
the river, for there was a road on that side for 
teams, and only a trail on the west side. It is 
very likely that Dan Whitney may have brought 
him up to the ferry, as you say that his niece told 
you when you were a young girl (1859) that "he 
had a beautiful watch given him by the Prince de 
Joinville for taking him up to see Eleazer 
Williams." But no one came across the river but 
the Prince and no one went up to see Eleazer 
Williams but my father and the Prince. They 
probably came up as far as the ferry and called 
for us to come over and get him, for my father 

299 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

kept the ferry at that time. The river was not 
wide then, before the dam was built, and a good 
hard shove would send a canoe clear across the 
river, or the passenger could paddle himself 
across. We often did this if my father and broth- 
ers were in the woods. We had a large scow 
ferry to carry teams across. The Prince, came 
to our house for the purpose of getting my father 
to take him up to see Eleazer Williams. We 
always called him "Priest Williams;" and they 
rode up to his house in our heavy wagon at once. 
It was a rough log house, comparatively new 
then, about six miles to the south of our place; 
where he lived with his wife, Mary Jourdain, and 
son John who was a little fellow then. They 
stayed there for several hours, for I remember 
that our dinner was very late between three and 
four o'clock in the afternoon, owing to their hav- 
ing stayed up there so long. At the dinner table 
the Prince seemed to feel very badly, he was 
very much depressed and showed it very much, 
and could not talk of anything else but Priest 
Williams. He asked so many questions about 
him, and seemed so anxious to know everything 
my father could tell him. It seemed to affect him 
so much to know that Priest Williams, was living 
in such straightened circumstances, in such a 
rough log house, with literally no comforts of life 
at all. Their house was so poorly furnished, no 
chairs even, only stools with three legs, that 

300 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

they had made themselves. No carpets, no rugs 
and only bunk beds. I cannot remember what 
he said, only I know he talked a great deal about 
It. They were all the time talking about Priest 
Williams and the Prince seemed to feel so much, 
his lack of everything which makes life at all 
desirable. After dinner was over my father took 
him in the rough wagon, the only one we had, to 
Green Bay, and I always thought it must have 
seemed strange to him to ride in such a wagon, 
he was so finely dressed and so elegant looking. 
Crossing the ferry in the scow they went down to 
Green Bay on the east side of the river, and my 
father left him at the Astor House, and came 
home alone. He seemed to be so thankful to my 
father for having taken him up to see Priest 
Williams. 

I always thought the Prince de Joinville thought 
or knew that Eleazer Williams was the Dauphin, 
from the way he talked at our house, and his 
feeling so depressed over him. It does not seem 
as though he could of felt that way over a total 
stranger. 

Eleazer Williams always rode a small black 
Indian pony, and always carried saddle bags at 
the back of his saddle. He invariably stopped 
at our house in passing, to get a drink of water, 
for we had a fine spring in the cellar. He would 
rein in his horse and call out, "I want some of 
your white ale," and we children would run down 

301 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

cellar, and bring- him some cool fresh water from 
the spring*. We always liked him. I thought he 
was a nice man, and he always seemed to be a 
g-ood man. He was a missionary and we always 
supposed he brought out the Oneida Indians to 
the Reservation here. 

He did not dress very well for he was very 
poor; but I remember one day he stopped at our 
house, and was so richly dressed in handsome 
clothes, and he told us that "the Prince de Join- 
ville had sent him a box of very nice thing's." 
He seemed so pleased, and looked so finely. We 
thought the Prince must have sent him the 
clothes he had on, but he did not say so; nor did 
we like to ask the question. My father always 
said he thought it was strange for the Prince to 
be so deeply interested in Priest Williams, 
because he himself, or we, had never thought of 
his being of so much importance. 

I do not know how long the Prince stayed at 
Green Bay. He said to us before he left our house 
that he thought he would come back to Green 
Bay next summer, and would come up and see us 
again, at that time. Just think, the only per- 
sons now living in DePere, that have ever seen 
Eleazer Williams are Mr. Perry Call, my husband 
and myself, and the only time Mr. Sharpe ever 
saw him, he — Eleazer Williams, was put in his 
room to sleep at the old "DePere House." He 
was sour and seemed to feel cross and grumbled 

302 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

a great deal, about the poor room and beds. No 
chairs in the room, and he could not find any 
basin to wash in. " 

"Truthfully recorded by Francis Lawton Dun- 
ham." DePere, Wis., Dec. 5, 1904. 

Ill 

DAN WHITNEY RECEIVES A WATCH FROM THE 
PRINCE. 

"DePere, Wis., Dec. 5, 1904. 
"Dear Mr. Lawson: — 

"When I was about fourteen years old, I lived 
at Mrs. Daniel M. Whitney's house in Green Bay, 
while attending- school there, and a member of 
her family told me that at that time, 'Dan 
Whitney (Jr.) had that beautiful watch, which 
the Prince de Joinville gave him, for taking- him 
up to Eleazer Williams, when he was here in 
1841.' " Sgd. Francis Lawton Dunham. 

IV 

HON. THEODORE CONKEY HEARD THE PRINCE 
ENQUIRE FOR WILLIAMS. 

Applpjton, Dec. 22, 1904. 
Mr. Lawson: 

Sir — I am in receipt of your letter asking for 
something I may tell you of the now famous 
Eleazer Williams. You may think it a meagre 
bit, but such as it is I give it gladly. 

303 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

In the summer of 1841 my husband (Theodore 
Conkey) a young man of twenty- two years 
boarded the lake steamer at Buffalo bound for 
the far away west. He found on board a rollick- 
ing party of French gentlemen out, it might seem 
**on a lark, " a pleasure trip to the great unknown 
wilderness. They were the Prince de Joinville 
and party. Many questions were asked by the 
Prince about the strange wild country, the seem- 
ingly interminable forest and the wonderful great 
water way; and did the captain or any gentleman 
aboard know of one Eleazer Williams; an edu- 
cated man, in fact a priest who they understood 
was an authority on Indian affairs being himself 
a native of some eastern tribe. When the steamer 
drew alongside the wooden pier at Mackinac, 
there grip in hand, stood the reverend gentleman, 
himself, in waiting. He came leisurely aboard, 
was presented by the Captain to the Prince de 
Joinville, and received seemingly as a friend, 
which continued all the way to Green Bay, where 
the party accompanied by Mr. Williams stopped 
at the Astor House. 

After the Reverend Mr. Hanson's book 
appeared, my husband told me about that trip, 
which perhaps made me more willing to accept 
the plausibility of the story. It seemed to fit. 
After that I saw Mr. Williams occasionally in 
passing. Once on the Aquilla I think crossing 
Winnebago, he came aboard. My friend, as well 

304 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

as myself, was impressed very favorably with his 
personality, and yet we thought he really did 
wonderfully resemble the pictures we had seen of 
the French Bourbons. We were charmed with 
his suave courteous and dignified bearing and 
willing to concede that if not a King he looked 
it. Allow me to assure you that a host of your 
friends with myself await your book with pleas- 
ant anticipations. Cynthia F. Conkey. 

V 

THE PRINCES GIFT OF A GOLD SNUFF BOX. 

The following extract is from a long, old letter 
in possession of Mrs. Fred B. Warren of Green 
Bay, and is all that refers to Rev. Williams, and 
implies some former conversation or correspon- 
dence on the subject. The letter is dated 
"Ceresco [now Ripon] Fond du Lac County, W. 
T. Dec. 20, 1845," and addressed to, *'S. D. 
Williams, Le Roy, Ohio." 

"I have seen Eleazer Williams, he lives on Fox 
River, 10 miles above Green Bay, seems in good 
circumstances for an Indian. He has had an 
invitation to visit the King of France. He is 
some related to him on his mother's side. He 
has received a royal present, a gold snuff box. 
Prince de Joinville visited him when on a tour 
through this country a few years ago. The 
Prince pronounced this country the finest in the 
world." Sgd. ''L. M. Parsons." 

305 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

VI. 

GIFT FROM FRANCE, PAINTING OF LOUIS XVI. 

"Sheboygan, Wis., July 14, 1904. 
"Mr. Lawson: — 

"In answer to your letter, I will say a photo- 
graph of Louis XVI cannot be taken. It has 
been tried but the picture is too dark. It is 
painted on wood, and the wood has darkened 
with age. This picture was sent to Mr. Williams 
after the visit of the Prince De Joinville. It 
arrived in Sheboygan after the boats had stopped 
running, and as Mr. Williams was about to go 
east he came to my fathers (Brown) hotel, and 
opened the picture there. I was a child at the 
time, but remember his delight on opening it. 
When he went east he requested us not to give 
up the picture except by written order from him, 
which never came, and he never returned from 
the east.'' Respectfully, 

Mrs. L. H. Jones. 

VII. 

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE LAST DAYS OF ELEAZER 
WILLIAMS. 

In 1902, the Inter Ocean, Chicago, in a paper 
on the "Lost Dauphin," published an interview 
with Hon. D. R. Cameron, which portion of the 
paper is given below: 

306 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

"Again has the mysterious case of Eleazer 
Williams come to the front. D. R. Cameron, of 
Cameron, Amberg- & Co., has announced that he 
was well acquainted with the queer old mission- 
ary. Mr. Cameron believes that Williams was 
the lost Dauphin of France. 

"The Chicago merchant was one of the pall 
bearers at the funeral of Williams. 

"I remember distinctly the day the Rev. 
Eleazer Williams was buried, " said Mr. Cameron 
in telling the story a few days ago. "It was a 
bright, sunny day in August. Aurora lodge, No. 
383, of the Masons, which took charge of the 
funeral, had not been organized very long at the 
time. A few days previous to Williams' death, 
with several fellow members of the lodge, I 
visited him at his chateau and he requested that 
he be buried with Masonic rites. 

"Every one in the village knew of the romance 
woven about his name, but few believed that he 
was a French Prince. He was generally liked 
and had many friends. The Indians were more 
congenial for him than were his white neighbors, 
and it was among them that he did most of his 
missionary work. 

"He had many peculiarities which might have 
traces of a childhood training amid other sur- 
roundings. He never confided to me that he 
believed himself of royal birth, and, indeed, sel- 
dom talked on the subject with anyone. His 

307 



PRINCE ORCREOLE 

most treasured possession was a woman's dress 
of costly material and elegant workmanship. I 
admired it greatly, and every time I would visit 
him he would take it out and show it to me. It was 
such a gown as might have been worn by one of the 
great dames in the time of the Bourbon monarchy. 

"In 1851, with an old Indian woman as house- 
keeper, he took up his residence at Hogansburg. 
This house, where he lived and died, and the 
modest marble slab in the cemetery is all that 
remains to remind strangers of Lazarre. With a 
steep Gothic roof and diamond shaped window 
panes, it was built according to his design to 
resemble an old French chateau. Friends inter- 
ested in his story paid for the erection of the house. 

**0n Sundays he held services in this house, to 
which those of the villagers who wished to wor- 
ship with the Indians were welcomed. Occasion- 
ally he went to Fort Covington to visit the 
family of Richard Grange, whose widow is now 
living in Fort Covington, N. Y. She was a great 
friend of Lazarre 's, and in a letter written to 
Mr. Cameron last week she said: 

'Though it is years since I saw and talked with 
Eleazer Williams I remember h'im distinctly, "she 
says in her letter. "His story always appealed 
to the vein of romance in my nature, and I firmly 
believe that he was 'the lost Prince.' I still 
believe it, in spite of the fact that once when I 
asked him if he was of royal birth he replied: 'I 

do not know.' 

308 



PRINCE OR CREOLE 

When he came to Fort Covington to visit us he 
often wore a long-, dark blue military coat. When 
he died he left a small library; and a white silk 
court dress, which he declared had belonged to 
his mother. During his life he always had 
Indian servants about him and Indian friends 
calling at his home. In his last illness I paid 
him a visit in company with the physician who 
attended him. The doctor said that his patient 
did not show a trace of Indian blood in the color 
of his skin, and I could see myself that his hair 
was not the straight, black hair of the Indian. " 

A son of the above Martha Grange writes the 
author. 

''Port Covington, N. Y., Feb. 10, 1905. 
Mr. p. V. Lav^son, Menasha, Wis. 

"In my early childhood I frequently saw 
Eleazer Williams as he made my fathers house 
his home when visiting this village. He was 
heavily built about 5 ft 3 or 4 inches in height, 
fair skin, no appearance whatever of Indian blood. 
A man of mild manners always well dressed." 
Sgd. "R. A. Grange." 

IX 

Mary E. Seaver of Malone, N. Y. , writes the 

author that her husband who was the agent who 

paid the St. Regis Indians their annuities for 

many years, and her father, both knew Eleazer 

Williams well and did not believe he was an 

Indian. 

309 



INDEX 



Angouleme 12 

Artois 21 

Astor House 234-S 

Barras 101-3 

Bastille 25, 28- 

Bailly 27, 30,58 

Beauchesne 102 

Bellenger • 135 

Bondual 245 

Burke, Edmund 42 

Caughnawaga 146 

Campan 36, 134 

Cameron D. R •• 306 

Chaumont r 154 

China, brass and silver 281 

Colton, Calvin 165 

Collins, Dr 259 

Colonne 16, 18 

Clery 82 

Conkey, Theodore 229, 303 

Conciergerie 94 

Desault, Dr 113 

Dickenson • 168 

Eastman » 141, 269 

Elv 157, 161 

Ellis 181 

Farsen 59, 57 

Ferrier, de 154-5 

Figaro 106 

Foulon 31 

Genet, M 134 

Gomin 105-6-7 

Grange 308 

Green Bay 235 

Hawes, Dr 254 

Hanson, Dr 254 

Hale 173 

Hobart 180 

Jewett •..170 

Jenkins 165 

Josephine 10, 103, 128 

Joinville, Prince de, 216, 218, 224. 299 
303. 305. 

Jourdain' 209 

Jourdain, Mary H 210, 276 

Latimer 247 

Lawrence, Amos 269 

Library 288 

La Vendee 89 

Lamball 11, 35, 42, 82, 84 

Lasne 106, 112 

Laurent 103-4-5-6 

Lienard 104 

La Fayette 28, 33, 34, 35, 38, 53, 58 

Louis XVI 19, 29, 30, 34, 70. 87, 88. 
306. 



Lazare 171 

Louis XVn 12, 13, 14, 15, 30, 32, 34, 
41, 43, 57, 89. 

Louis XVm 102-3 

Louis Philippe 221 

Marie Antoinette, 11, 12, 13, 21, 24, 
29, 34, 42, 70, 84, 87, 89. 

Madam Royal 11, 12 

Marseillaise 71 

Maillard 33 

Masons 271, 272 

Mc Carty • 227, 243 

Mirabeau 26 

Morse 193 

Nan 278 

Napoleon 76 

National Assembly 51 

National Guard 27 

Necker 15, 27 

Notables, Assembly 17. 18 

Orleans, Egalite, 21, 22, 23, 27, 31, 33, 
35, 37, 40, 70, 87, 91. 

Oneida 180 

Onderdonk 215 

Palais Royal 22 

Pelletan. Dr 116 

Penthievre 22 

Polignac 13, 16, 21 

Pleasants 244, 296 

Revolution 26 

Robespierre loi 

States General • 20, 24, 25 

Simon the Cobbler 97 

Smith 167 

Sharpe 243, 298 

Shook, Captain 231, 245 

Skenandoah 181 

St. Regis 180, 270 

Sumner, Geo 245 

Temple, Martha 171 

Temple, the 79, 80, 81, 97 

Tyson woman 90 

Tuileries 15, 63, 66, 70, 72 

Tourzel 37, 38, 82 

Turgot 16 

Tricolor 27 

Varennoes 57 

Versailles 31, 40 

Washington 28 

Williams Eleazer 137 

Williams Mary H 276 

Williams John L 276, 279 

Williams George : 277, 280 

Welch, Dr -172 

Whitney 243, 268, 303 



ADVERTISEMENT 



Historic works written by Puhlius V. Lawson,L.L. B., sold 
by Log- Cabin Inn bookstore, Menasha, Wisconsin, or 
can be ordered of any book house in the United States 



Family Genealogy, 

1903, cloth, containing- much of the biography and 
g-enealog-y of the following- families: Baird, Blair, But- 
ler, Cook, Childs, Clark, Cole, Crane, DeKruyft, Ed- 
wards, Finney, Fleming-, Graves, Grandine, Haney, 
Hitchcock, Kerwin, Lawson, Lowry, McAlpin, Peper, 
Richardson, Rittenhouse, Southwood, Stolp, Williams 
and Wrig-ht. Price $3.50. 

"Bravest of the Brave, Captain Charles de Langlade** 

1904, Banta Publishing- Company, Canterbury tint, red 
silk cloth, g-old embossed title, 17 illustrations. Price 
$1.50. 300 pp. 12 Vo. It is a biog-raphy of de Lang-lade 
the pioneer of Wisconsin. 

**Prince or Creole, The Mystery of Louis XVII** 

1905, price $1.50. Cloth. Complete history of the lost 
prince. 



History Monographs, Paper Cover 

*'Oshkosh and his fellow warriors" . . .20 pp. 50c 

"The Mission of Saint Mark" ... 18 pp. 50c 

"Outag-amie Villag-e West Menasha" . . 4 pp. 25c 
"Complete Prehistoric History of Winnebag-o 

County" 50 pp. $1.00 

"Winnebag-o Nation" .... 10 pp. 50c 

"Aborig-inal Keramic Art" , . . . 32 pp. 50c 

"Prehistoric Copper in America" . . 32 pp. 50c 



H 206 79 P 



<. '-Tf??^' (f 



t- % 


















%/ "':^. Vo^' -^^^'- -o/ «: 
,-;««:. ^-^..^'-^ /Jifev \./ -^&\ %.^* 




